Two petitioners filed a petition praying that the Honourable Tribunal declare that the elections were not conducted by the constitution and applicable law, and thus they should be voided. They also sought orders declaring that Nderiyu Gikari and Charles Nyaberi were not eligible to vie in the elections
Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba’s troubled reign at the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts has been compounded even further after the Sports Dispute Tribunal declared the elections in December 2022 of senior officials of the Kenya National Sports Council, null and void.
The election was supervised by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on behalf of the Kenya National Sports Council to fill the positions of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Honorary Treasurer, and Two Committee Members. Two petitioners had filed a petition praying that the Honourable Tribunal declare that the elections were not conducted by the constitution and applicable law, and thus they should be voided. They also sought orders declaring that Nderiyu Gikari and Charles Nyaberi were not eligible to vie in the elections.
The claimants invited the Tribunal to find that the elections were irregular. They claimed that Nderiyu Gikari, Vanraj Sarvaiya, and Charles Nyaberi were not eligible to vie in the elections, having served two statutory terms. The officials were said to have held office since 2010, over 12 years before the impugned election.
Purity Njoki, in a letter dated December 13, 2022, to the Kenya National Sports Council days before the elections, requested that an investigation be conducted on the irregularities observed among the list of contestants for the election and asked for the removal of Nderiyu Gikari, Vanraj Sarvaiya, and Charles Nyaberi from the said list on account of illegibility.
She alleged that the elections were bereft of any integrity and tainted with illegalities and irregularities, and as such, the first respondent could not be considered to have been validly elected in such a rigged process. She further reiterated that the elections are null and void and should be cancelled. Mr. Duncan Kiprop, who testified that he was a sports official and wanted to contest in the impugned elections but did not make it to the ballot, citing insufficient time to obtain the clearance documents and not finding officers of the KNSC to receive his nomination papers,
The Claimants averred that they requested the Respondents to provide them with a list of delegates who were also registered voters. This request was not honoured and in the absence of any explanation as to why, it is a reasonable conclusion that there was a lack of transparency that casts doubt on the eligibility of the voters.
The ruling by the tribunal reads “With regards to allegations over electoral malpractices, the Tribunal has found that indeed there were incidences of illegalities or irregularities in the election process”. In these circumstances, the following orders commend themselves to the Tribunal:
The process leading up to the elections held on December 15, 2022, did not meet the fairness threshold necessary to affirm its integrity. The election outcome is thus voided. A fresh, open, and transparent election is to be held in conformity with the Act and the Registrar’s Regulations 2016, within 60 days from the date of this ruling.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respondents are ineligible to vie for re-election in the same positions they hold but can seek other seats within the council. The above orders were issued on August 15, 2023, by J. Njeri Onyango (Panel Chair), Mary Kimani (Member), and Bernard Wafula Murunga (Member).
