A legal political battle is in the offing after two voters from Mbeere North filed a petition at the Embu High Court challenging the election of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Leo Wa Muthende Njeru.
The voters, Julieta Karigi and Patrick Gitonga, are seeking to have the election nullified and a fresh one conducted. They also want their petition dated December 1, 2025 certified urgent.
The petitioners allege there are inconsistencies in his identity that the UDA candidate was not a registered voter, thus the election was not free, fair and verifiable.
The voters observed that on September 3, 2024, the UDA candidate executed a Deed Poll renouncing his former name Leonard Muriuki Njeru and legally adopting the name Leo Wa Muthende Njeru.
They argued that the Constitution provides that a person is eligible for election as MP only if that person is a duly registered voter.
"The first respondent was declared the purported winner of the Mbeere North by-election under the name Leo Wa Muthende Njeru which doesn't appear in the register of voters. The only name registered in the electoral roll is Leonard Muriuki Njeru, which the respondent had previously denounced," argued the voters in their sworn affidavit.
Accordingly, the voters state, he was ineligible for election to the National Assembly.
"The declaration of the first respondent as the winner under a name not registered in the electoral roll renders the election outcome unlawful, invalid and void, constituting a matter of urgent public importance requiring immediate intervention of the court."
In the affidavit, they argue that despite the published and legally valid Deed Poll, the first respondent presented nomination papers under his old name.
The voters have faulted the IEBC and Mbeere North returning officer Mr John Mwii Kinyua for accepting and processing his nomination.
They accuse IEBC of allowing a candidate with two inconsistent identities to contest and be declared winner.
Mr Wa Muthende, who has already been sworn in as the Mbeere North MP, has been cited as a respondent.
He won the election with 15,802 votes against his closest challenger, Mr Newton Kariuki (Karish) of DP who garnered 15,308 votes.
The total number of votes cast in the constituency with 55,124 registered voters was 33,947, representing 61.9 percent voter turnout, one of the highest in Kenya’s by-election history.
