Embu Governor Martin Wambora denies colluding with IEBC to rig elections

Embu Governor Martin Wambora testifies at the Embu High Court in an election petition seeking to nullify his win. (Joseph Muchiri, Standard)

Embu Governor Martin Wambora has denied that he colluded with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to rig the August 8 election in his favour.

“I would have no reason to collude with the IEBC as I am a firm believer in democracy and the free will of the people in choosing their leaders,” Governor Wambora told the court.

Testifying in an election petition filed by former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti that contends that he was not validly elected, Wambora maintained that  his election was free, fair and credible.

Wambora, who was guided by his lawyer, Kithinji Marete and later cross-examined by Kivuti’s lawyer, Tom Ojienda, however, admitted there were random errors in counting and tallying.

The errors, he said, were “understandable and could not alter the final results”.

He said the errors were not skewed in favour of any particular candidate and affected all of them in general, and that he noticed them after he accessed the Forms 37 A, B and C.

“The ground was level for all the players,” he said.

Wambora said he was not aware of any violence or incidences that could have disrupted the election process and that no registered voter was denied a chance to vote.

Wambora told the court that he did not want the votes recounted as Kivuti had prayed and would only be comfortable with the scrutiny of votes in Forms 37 A, B and C and not the records preserved in Kiems kits.

On the issue that more than 10,000 votes were cast for the governor position than those cast for woman representative seat, Wambora pointed out that more people voted for the President than the governor.