Dead, bedridden voters ‘cast’ ballots in election, witness tells court

By DENNIS ONYANGO

Kenya: Dead and bedridden residents in Nyando constituency ‘cast’ their ballot while presiding officers campaigned for a candidate in the March polls, the High Court in Kisumu has been told.

Mr John Omollo, a witness for the petitioner Jared Okello, testified that he found names of eight dead people and three bedridden, marked to indicate they had voted.

Omollo alleged also that the presiding officer at Kobura Primary School polling station campaigned for area MP Fred Outa.

He claimed the officer tried to convince him to vote for Outa at the door to the polling station.

The dead were his relatives and neighbours, he told the court.

The court was told two burial permits were attached in the witness’ sworn affidavit to prove his case.

He indicated one of the sick residents was admitted to the Nyanza Provincial Hospital on the voting day and the others were too sick to go to the polling station. The witness also claimed one grandmother was denied a chance to vote.

In a case where the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is also a respondent, the witness said he detected the anomalies in a conversation with the presiding officer.

ODM’s lawyer Alfred Opiyo took issue with the witness and asked how he had acquired the burial permits. “Is it true that you are the custodian of burial permits in your village?” Mr Opiyo asked.

The petitioner’s second witness Joshua Onyango alleged that Outa used the Constituency Development Fund during his campaigns, which was against the law.

He also accused one Kennedy Ooko, who was Outa’s agent, of supervising IEBC officials stuffing ballot papers in boxes.

After the voting day, Onyango alleged he found broken seals scattered behind the tallying hall and brought them before the court as exhibits.

The poll petition hearing continues.