LSK wants petition losers to refund taxes

By Harold Ayodo

NAIROBI; KENYA: Lawyers want politicians who lose election petitions to repay Treasury for drawing salaries illegally.

Lawyer Dr Ekuru Aukot said that leaders found guilty of rigging their way into electoral office should not earn from public coffers.

 Dr Aukot who is the former chairman of the defunct Committee of Experts said courts should order the losers to compensate Treasury.

 “Leaders found guilty of ascending to office by flouting electoral laws should refund salaries earned when in office illegally,” Dr Aukot said.

 He was speaking during the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar in Kisumu.

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 Dr Aukot presented a legal paper titled Electoral Process & Practices: How Prepared Are We For the March 4, 2013.

 A paltry three MPs out of 11 managed to recapture their seats after by-elections following petitions from the 2007 General Elections by 2010 alone.

 The three were Chirau Mwakwere (Matuga), Margaret Wanjiru (Starehe) and Boni Khalwale (Ikolomani).

 Parliamentarians who lost their seats following election petitions are Walter Nyambati (Kitutu Masaba), Joel Onyancha (Bomachoge) and Omingo Magara (South Mugirango).

 The others are Simon Mbugua (Kamukunji), Dick Wathika (Makadara), George Thuo (Juja), Ngata Kariuki (Kirinyanga Central) and Abdirahman Hassan (Wajir South.)

 The chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel said the move would contain rigging in General Elections.

 “Leaders found guilty of being illegally should not walk away with hefty salaries and allowances earned illegally,” Dr Aukot said.

 East Africa Law Society President James Mwamu said that aspirants who would be elected through the back door must face stiffer legal consequences.

 “Rigging elections is a serious offence that elected leaders found guilty and lose seats should compensate tax payers,” Mwamu said.

 Kabarak University School of Law lecturer Elisha Ongoya said that implementation of the Electoral Code of Conduct would smoke out aspirants bent on rigging elections.

 “The problem ahead of General Elections next month is the 10th parliament watered down several electoral laws that would have weeded out would-be offenders,” Ongoya said.

 Ongoya who is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya said the Electoral Code of Conduct sanctioned dos and don’ts on elections sanctioned by the Constitution.

 “The question is whether IEBC would oversee a General Election where the strict provisions of the Code would come into force,” Ongoya said.

 Dr Ekuru urged the IEBC to crack the whip on electoral offenders to instill confidence in the voters that the General Elections would be credible.