Nairobi — The General Election of 2007 was perhaps the most contested in Kenya's history, and in January 2008, 39 candidates who were declared losers filed petitions against the winners.

More than 25 of the petitions were dismissed on technicalities, mainly because the MPs were not personally served with the papers.

Three years down the line, several MPs, among them assistant ministers, are still battling to retain their seats.

In Nairobi, the ghost of losing the coveted seat still hovers around Housing assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru and her Public Works counterpart Dick Wathika. Both petitions are at an advanced stage, with judges indicating their desire to conclude them as soon as possible.

Bishop Wanjiru, who trounced former Sports minister Maina Kamanda to claim the Starehe seat, has filed several applications in a bid to stall the petition.

It was only last week that the appellate court ordered a recount of the votes cast in 2007 after it was discovered she filed the appeal out of time.

Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua's election is also being challenged, and his lawyer Kibe Mungai has filed an application seeking the dismissal of the petition on grounds that he was not served personally.

Former MP William Kabogo also moved to court to challenge the election of Government chief whip George Thuo as Juja MP. The hearing of the petition begins Monday.

Assistant minister and Wajir South MP Abdirahman Hassan is also among those fighting of attempts to have their elections cancelled.

His attempt to have the petition dismissed on allegations that the petitioner- Mahamud Muhumed Sirat- was a foreigner was rejected by Justice Luka Kimaru a fortnight ago.

Before the application was brought, Justice Kimaru had ordered a scrutiny of the ballot boxes and a vote recount.

A petition filed against Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale is also pending in court.

Former Kirinyaga Central MP Daniel Karaba was dissatisfied with the dismissal of his election petition and has moved to the Court of Appeal.

Mr Karaba's petition was dismissed on the basis Ngata Kariuki was not personally served with the petition papers.

Three elections have so far been nullified -that of Omingo Magara (South Mugirango), Joel Onyancha of Bomachoge and Chirau Ali Mwakwere in Matuga.

Belated as it may be, courts could be stamping their authority on election disputes with three nullifications within slightly over a year.

Lethargy

For the lethargy, allegations of corruption and waning public confidence in the judicial system, the manner in which the three petitions have been handled could be seen asn an indication of improvement.

Vice chairman of the Law Society of Kenya James Mwamu commended the Judiciary but called for more.

"Kenyans and the judiciary are beginning to appreciate that these things can be done. This will not be the last if them and we look forward to witness more," said Mr Mwamu.

The next step, he said, would be to reduce the time within which to hear and determine election petitions to six months, a view he shared with Sports assistant minister Kabando wa Kabando.

This, he explained, would give political parties and the electoral body enough time to prepare for a by-election.

Some petitions have taken unnecessarily long and end up in the next election year. For instance, the petition of former Magarini MP Harrison Kombe dragged on from 2003 to March 2007 when he lost his seat. A by-election was held only months before the General Election.

By that time, at least 10 election petition cases remained unresolved with less than 11 months to the General Election.