Former Mombasa Gubernatorial candidate Hassan Omar has been ordered to pay Sh 8 million as total cost in a petition which he challenged the reelection of Hassan Joho.

Mr Omar failed to convince the High Court in Mombasa to annul the reelection of Mr Joho in the August 8, 2017 polls.

Earlier, Mr Omar implored with the court, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the case, citing lack of confidence in the judge who was listening to the case.

"It will be hypocritical for the petitioners to proceed with this matter when they believe that the honourable court is already biased against them," he said in mid-January in the petition which sought to withdraw the petition.

It could probably follow that due to his earlier intention to withdraw the case, Mr Omar may not appeal.

Biased judge

Omar through his lawyer Yusuf Abubakar had filed an application seeking to have Judge Lydia Achode withdraw from the case over open bias in handling the applications.

Mohammed Balala who is representing Governor Hassan Joho would had earlier dismiss the claims, saying the call for the refusal was a move aimed at intimidating the court.

Judge Achode dismissed the application calling for her disqualification from the case, insisting Omar should have gone to the appeals court.

“The petitioner has never appealed any ruling by the court to express his dissatisfaction,” she said during the ruling.

“It was not enough for the former senator to make mere allegations. He should have given reasonable grounds that there is bias,” she added.