MP denies altering poll papers to secure victory

By Wahome Thuku and Evelyn Kwamboka

Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru confirmed that all forms used in the Starehe election had altered figures.

And none of them had been signed or countersigned either by agents or the candidates.

"It’s obvious that they have been altered but whether the alterations are genuine or not I can’t tell," she told presiding judge Kihara Kariuki.

"Most of them have been whitewashed but I don’t know where they originated from."

But the Housing Assistant Minister denied allegations that she bribed electoral officials to help her rig the 2007 parliamentary election.

Contentious issues

Wanjiru also denied claims she altered electoral documents to increase her votes against former area MP Maina Kamanda.

And she maintains that though she had talked about rigging a day after the December 27 polls, the parliamentary elections were smooth and all contentious issues were resolved.

The Bishop told the High Court she had never seen the official forms which Mr Kamanda’s lawyer Kioko Kilukumi claimed she altered.

Wanjiru has been on the witness stand since last week, defending herself in the election petition filed by Kamanda. She has been at pains to clarify remarks she made to a television crew during the elections that the process had been rigged and she was demanding a repeat.

Hearing continues on January 22.

And Wajir South MP Ali Hassan Abdirahman wants a petition challenging his election dismissed.

The MP claims the petitioner Mahamud Sirat is an Australian and owes allegiance to that Government.

The move comes barely two months after the High Court quashed Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’s bid to deport Mr Sirat to Australia.

Justice Luka Kimaru said he would deliver his ruling in January.

In the application, the MP claimed Sirat is not eligible and ought not to have been registered as a voter or offer himself, to be elected as an MP.

"The petitioner has no legal or constitutional basis or capacity to institute or proceed with an election petition," he said.