Former Meru Governor Peter Munya wants to withdraw the petition he filed against his successor Kiraitu Murungi following President Kenyatta’s advice.
On Monday morning, Mr Munya gave notice of the withdrawal to the High Court in Meru.
NOTICE
Through lawyer Martin Gitonga, Mr Munya asked Judge Francis Gikonyo to postpone hearing of the petition until December 4.
The postponement, the lawyer said, was to allow the ex-governor to file a notice of withdrawal.
“We will not be able to proceed today because the court has two rulings to make and we’re also seeking leave to file a formal application,’’ Mr Gitonga told the judge.
The judge was to rule on additional documents that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) wanted to introduce in the case
The respondents—IEBC, Meru County Returning Officer Gichichi Macharia and Governor Kiraitu Murungi— did not object the adjournment.
They, however, said they were ready to proceed with the case. Justice Gikonyo concurred with Mr Gitonga to defer the matter.
TURNOUT
Rulings on the case, which, according to the judge, would have had a huge bearing on the outcome, will made on the mention date.
While filing the case, Mr Munya said he had enough evidence to show that he was rigged out and that Mr Murungi did not win August 8 polls.
“The petitioner avers and will seek to prove that the nature and extent of the flaws, malpractices, offences, non-compliance with the law and irregularities witnessed during the impugned Meru gubernatorial elections significantly affected the outcome to the extent that the first respondent (IEBC) cannot accurately and verifiably determine what the results any of the candidates got,’’ he said in the application.
Mr Gitonga said their decision to go to court was informed by proceedings at the Supreme Court, which quashed the August 8 presidential election.
In the petition, Mr Munya had argued that out of the 1,473 polling stations in the county, 119 had no data entered for the gubernatorial race, adding that the all aged anomalies affected 53,350 voters.
JOB
He also argued that voter turnout in 14 polling stations was higher than registered voters.
According to IEBC, Governor Murungi beat Mr Munya by garnering 280,793 against 231,420 votes.
Addressing journalists outside the court on Monday, Mr Murungi said he was happy his predecessor had made the application.
He said the move would enable him to work and unite Meru residents.
On his part, Mr Munya said he had decided to withdraw the matter following the request by President Kenyatta.
In October, the head of state told the former Council of Governor chairman to withdraw the case in return for a job in the national government.
Mr Munya said he will now shift gears and work with Mr Kenyatta’s administration.
