High Court did not have jurisdiction over 2016 poll process-Jubbaland

Entry of regional administrations bolsters Parliament’s quest to annul Court verdict.

Jubbaland state has joined South West state in calling for dismissal of the court verdict which ruled a repeat of eight contested seats in the Lower House.

In a statement Friday, Jubbaland said the High Court interfered with a political process which had been dully deliberated and endorsed by the regional administrations and the federal government.

“Considering the process that was arrived by the National Leadership Forum for the management and supervision of the indirect elections of 2016 that were based on political decision and provided the committee power responsible to reach final decision on announcing the results of the indirect elections, Jubbaland recommends to follow the decision by the NLF December 25-26 which ruled against any repeat polls,” Jubbaland said.

The statement follows a similar one from South West state Thursday which endorsed the July 22 vote by the Lower House which set aside the May 16 verdict of the High Court. The High Court had ruled in favour of eight appellants who had sought legal redress over the seats. In its ruling, the Court ordered that the exercise be conducted afresh for the said seats.

A source privy to the 2016 electoral process and who did not want to be named said the Court did not have a place in the electoral process and that the decision of the Independent Dispute Resolution Mechanism was final. “The Court was there during the formation of the dispute resolution body and it was agreed its verdict was final. The Court is therefore interfering in a process which was purely political,” the source said.

The entry of the regional administrations could bolster Parliament’s efforts at quashing the court’s decision and letting the eight MPs whose seats are contested to serve a full term. It noted that all the 275 MPs are were duly elected and are therefore substantive representatives of the people until 2020.