Farah withdraws petition against Duale as details of their agreement remains scanty

Former Lagdera MP and Aden Duale agreed to withdraw the poll petition. (Courtesy)

By: Kamal Khalif

NAIROBI—Former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim on Tuesday withdrew an appeal he had filed in court against Garissa Township MP Aden Duale over the August 8 General Election.

Maalim wants the appeal to be struck out, stating that he now supports Aden Duale’s re-election in last year’s polls.

“Take notice that the appellant herein, Farah Maalim, hereby withdraws the entire appeal, for all purposes,” he said in a notice.

The former MP had moved to the Court of Appeal after Justice Hedwig Ongúdi dismissed a petition he had filed challenging Mr. Duale’s win.

The former Lagdera Member of Parliament in the appeal had accused the High court of allegedly disregarding key evidence he had presented challenging Duale’s re-election.

In the original petition, Justice Hedwig Ong’udi ruled there were no irregularities or malpractices to warrant nullification of the election, as Maalim had sought.

Farah said Duale was not validly elected and claimed some voters were denied a chance to cast their ballots. Maalim had cited cases of voter bribery and improper transmission of results, which favored the incumbent. He said voting throughout the constituency was not free and fair. Maalim admitted, however, he had no concrete evidence.

But Justice Ongúdi dismissed the claims saying there was no evidence to show any voter who was influenced to vote for Mr. Duale against their wish.

She further said there was no voter who testified that he or she had been denied a chance to vote on account of their names not captured in the electronic register.

The two leaders met on Friday last week and agreed to bury their political hatchet for the sake of development.

“We have decided to put our differences aside for the sake of our people and development,” Duale said on Friday last week after meeting with Maalim.