This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
On June 19, 2020, the Court of Appeal made a significant ruling in the case of former MP Kung'u Waibara versus Gatundu North MP Anne Wanjiku Kibe.
Waibara had filed a constitutional petition challenging Kibe's election, citing that she was not qualified to vie for the parliamentary seat since she had not resigned as a nominated Member of County Assembly (MCA) in Kiambu County Assembly at the time of the polls in 2017.
The High Court had initially dismissed the petition, but the Court of Appeal overturned this decision, sending the matter back to the High Court for fresh hearing and determination within six months.
Justices Asike Makhandia, Fatuma Sichale, and Jamilla Mohammed ruled that the High Court had not conclusively determined the constitutional question raised by Waibara, specifically whether Kibe was qualified to vie for the parliamentary seat.
"The appellant has raised a new question for interpretation under article 105 (1) (B) of the Constitution that has not been determined by any competent court," the judges said.
They also found that the question was not determined on merits by the trial court because the judge had observed that the petition was similar to another one where Waibara was disputing the validity of Kibe's election.
However, the bench found that the matter before the trial court was the issue of qualification and eligibility of Kibe, which had not been raised or determined in the other petition.
Ms Kibe won the parliamentary seat by garnering 39,447 votes against Waibara's 9,390 votes in the 2017 General Election.
