Kethi interrogated by CID over ‘stolen’ voter registration slip

Kethi Kilonzo (second left) with her lawyer Harun Ndubi (left), Dan Maanzo and Julie Soweto Aulo (right) at CID headquarters in Nairobi.  [Photo: Govedi Asutsa/Standard]

By Cyrus Ombati and Isaiah Lucheli

Nairobi, Kenya: Lawyer Kethi Kilonzo was Tuesday questioned by the CID over claims she stole an electoral slip from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

She, however, declined to record statements with the police and demanded to know the nature of the complaint lodged there.

Her lawyer, James Orengo, said Kethi did not record a statement as requested by the police after it emerged the officers had not obtained the right documents from the electoral body stating their case.

“We did not record a statement at all and none should say so. In our conversation we are the ones who were grilling police for over 90 per cent of the time we were there,” said Orengo.

He said they demanded from police that they be given a set of documents that they have moved to court to compel IEBC to surrender. She arrived there at about 11am and left two hours later.

Apart from Orengo, Makueni MP Dan Maanzo, Kitui Senator David Musila, lawyers Harun Ndubi and Julie Soweto, and activist Okiya Omtatah Okoiti were present.

Former Premier Raila Odinga’s aide Eliud Owalo was also present. They met deputy head of Serious Crimes Unit Harisson Meme.

Meme said they were investigating theft and forgery cases against Kethi. Under the Penal Code, forging any judicial or official document or presenting it officially, if proven, attracts up to seven years imprisonment.

Sets of documents

Orengo said of the 10 sets of documents they demanded, they had so far received three bundles from the police. They include a distribution register of the poll book where the alleged slip was stolen.

At the same time, IEBC and Kethi have agreed in court on the documents to be supplied to the lawyer.

Kethi, through her lawyer Julie Soweto, moved to the High Court Tuesday after the electoral body failed to comply with a letter she had written to the commission seeking to be furnished with the documents.

Among the documents she is seeking include all reports of IEBC referred to and produced by witnesses who gave their evidence before the dispute team during the suit challenging her candidature.

IEBC agreed to furnish Kethi with registers of voters for polling station number 2 NCC Social Hall, among other documents.