Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat claims anomaly in tally as hearing starts

BY NIKKO TANUI

The hearing of a petition filed by Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat challenging the election of Bomet Senator Prof Wilfred Lesan has begun at the Kericho High Court.

Salat was the first to take the stand on the first day of hearing of the case before High Court Judge Aggrey Muchelule.

He claimed that the election had been in favour of his opponent, Prof Lesan, in the hotly contented poll.

“The results entered in forms 35 and 36 were different at some polling centres and Kanu agents did not sign the forms at some polling stations,” Salat said.

Kanu chief agent for Chepalungu constituency Richard Sigei was the second person to take the stand. He pointed out issues that he claimed contributed to the petitioner losing the seat.

Salat is contesting the results of 20 polling stations, mainly in Chepalungu constituency, where he claimed there were massive irregularities in tallying of votes. The constituency had 138 polling centres during the General Election.

Lesan, the second respondent through lawyers William Arusei and Lilan Koech and their Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) counterpart Zephania Yego spent most of the session cross-examining Salat, his witness Sigei, and the Kanu Chepalungu chief agent.

IEBC has been named as the first respondent while Lesan is the second respondent. Bomet County returning officer Robert Shunet and his Chepalungu counterpart Kennedy Onchayo are named as the third and fourth respondents.

Solid evidence

Lesan’s lead counsel,  Arusei, challenged Salat to produce solid documentary evidence to prove his claims.    Sigei told the court that at Kapamban polling station, Salat had polled 42 votes and had been entered in form 35 but it was later changed to read zero votes in forms 35 and 36. He also alleged that at Olbutio Constituency tallying centre, the total number of votes announced by the returning officer for the senatorial seat was 63,535 votes, which was way above the 51,267 registered voters in the constituency.

Sigei claimed that he protested over the results announced at the tallying centre and even refused to append his signature to forms 35 and 36. “I reported the anomaly to Bomet County returning officer Robert Shunet,” he told the court.