Blow to Alfred Mutua as Lawyers Abandon Case Challenging His Re-election

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua's bid to defend his August 8th re-election in a case filed by his competitor Wavinya Ndeti has suffered a setback.

This is after a team of lawyers representing him led by senior counsel Waweru Gatonye pulled out from the case citing unfair treatment by the court.

The attorneys walked out of the Machakos court room on Tuesday after the judge rejected their application to adjourn the hearings to allow them make more applications.

High court judge Justice Aggrey Muchelule's Tuesday dismissal of the application by Mutua lawyers came only a week after he threw out another application by Mutua, where he was seeking to have the petition by Ndeti dismissed.

“A complaint against the election of the governor is essentially against the deputy governor as the IEBC does not conduct separate election for the two positions. If the petitioner does not contest the election of the Deputy Governor, the petitioner cannot sustain a petition against the Governor,” argued Mutua in the dismissed application.

In dismissing the application, Justice Aggrey Muchelule ruled that the plea was ‘irredeemably and fatally defective’ and failed to satisfy the legal threshold to warrant a dismissal.

Wavinya wants Mutua's win nullified on grounds of massive irregularities. Hearings of the case will resume on November 30th after Governor Mutua requested for time to hire new lawyers.