• His supporters have said they will ensure he is reelected.
• Kombe said all the ongoing projects in the constituency will not stop.
Image: ALPHONCE GARI
Harrison Kombe, whose election as Magarini MP was nullified by the Supreme Court on Friday, has said he is not scared of a by-election.
He said he is ready to face off his opponents again and is confident he will win with a landslide.
On Friday, Supreme Court judges Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung'u and Mohammed Ibrahim found that Kombe, who ran on an ODM ticket, engaged in ballot stuffing and altering of election results.
But speaking to journalists in Malindi, Kombe said, “I was not shaken by the ruling because I am used to this.”
Kombe said the secret behind his continuous victory is because of his understanding and approach in solving the problems faced by the constituents. He said one of the main thorny issue was land and he spearheaded the process of ensuring residents get ownership documents.
He said he also helped address water problem and initiated the tarmacking of the road from Sabaki to Baricho.
On education, Kombe said he initiated education programmes, with many residents benefitting.
“In my first term as MP, there were only two schools but at the end there were 27,” he said.
Kombe said all the ongoing projects in the constituency will not stop.
Jackline Kabibi, a supporter of Kombe, said after the Supreme Court ruling, they came together as women and resolved to push for the reelection of the MP.
“Kombe is helping Magarini people and we are going to ensure he is reelected,” she said.
Support John Mweni from Shauri Moyo said they are ready for the by-election and he is confident Kombe will recapture the seat.
Resident Lucas Kahindi said Kombe will win back the seat because of his development track record, particularly on education.
He said he is a beneficiary and the MP financed his education from secondary to university.
On Friday, judges said they found no error in the determination of the Court of Appeal that there was non-compliance with the Constitution and the law or that the noted irregularities and illegalities did affect the final result, based on both limbs of Section 83 of the Elections Act.
"For this reason, we find no merit in the appeal. It is hereby dismissed and for the avoidance of doubt, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal, together with the directions on the declaration of the seat of the Member of the National Assembly for Magarini constituency vacant and the direction to the 2nd respondent to conduct a by-election for Member of the National Assembly for Magarini constituency in accordance with the law," the judges ruled.
The judges ordered that IEBC shall forthwith declare the seat vacant and proceed to conduct a by-election in accordance with the law.
Costs capped at Sh2,000,000 was awarded to Kenga Stanley and is to be paid by Kombe.
Kombe defeated Stanley Kenga of UDA by 21 votes.
He got 11,946 votes against Kenga's 11,925.
Michael Kingi of the Pamoja African Alliance was third with 7,921 votes.
UDA's Kenga filed a petition at the High Court seeking the nullification of Kombe's win over alleged electoral malpractice.
Kombe served for two terms from 2007-2013 and 2013-2017.
According to him, his agents were denied access to Mjanaheri Primary School polling stations.