Day one of vote scrutiny shows irregularities in Starehe polls

By Nancy Akinyi and Evelyn Kwamboka

Electoral errors were detected as scrutiny of votes cast in Starehe constituency began.

Yesterday, petitioner Maina Kamanda led with 407 votes against Bishop Margaret Wanjiru’s 90 votes as per the first ballot box.

The first was from City Primary School polling station. The election court has 203 more ballot boxes to scrutinise.

City Primary had 12 ballot boxes, 11 of which are yet to be opened for scrutiny and recount.

High Court deputy registrar Stephen Riechi presided over the exercise. The court noted anomalies as the box had broken seals, with details on Form 16A attached on top not in agreement with those inside the box.

The document outside the ballot box was initially Form 8 but was changed by hand writing to read Form 16A.

The other anomaly was that one form enumerated the number of parliamentary candidates at 14 while the other put it at 17.

Mr Riechi also noted the number of agents who signed the two forms were different. The anomalies will be presented to the presiding judge Kihara Kariuki.

The fate of both Kamanda and Wanjiru lie in the hands of justice Kihara, who will give his verdict based on evidence already adduced in court by the petitioner and Wanjiru and on the findings of the scrutiny and recount.

Meanwhile, Wajir South parliamentary election petitioner claims MP Ali Hassan Abdirahman influenced his deportation to Australia.

Dr Mohammud Sirat said the move is aimed at scuttling the petition set for March 1 in Nairobi.

"I believe the MP unjustly or otherwise influenced the Minister for Immigration," he said in an affidavit filled at the Court of Appeal.

The affidavit is a response to an appeal by the MP challenging High Court judge Luka Kimaru’s decision to scrutinise votes cast in the 2007 parliamentary election.

Sirat claimed the notice of motion application dated January 29 by the MP is a further attempt to delay the hearing of election petition number 15 of 2008 filed on January 18, 2008.

"This is not the first attempt by the applicant to delay the scrutiny of ballots," he claimed.

He said his advocate Kethie Kilonzo advised him the MP does not have an arguable appeal.

In the appeal, Abdirahman is seeking to stop the scrutiny of the votes cast in the constituency.

The application is on grounds he stands to suffer if his election is nullified by an incompetent petition.

He says the integrity and credibility of the country’s judicial and electoral process will be compromised if the High Court proceeds with the scrutiny exercise in spite of serious and legitimate question as to whether the petitioner is a Kenyan.

He wants the Court of Appeal to temporarily stop proceedings before the electoral court until his appeal against Justice Kimaru’s decision is heard and determined.

In his January 22 ruling, Justice Kimaru dismissed an application that sought to strike out the petition as an abuse of the court process and ordered the scrutiny of ballots proceed from March 1.

Hassan wanted the petition dismissed on grounds that the petitioner Sirat is a foreigner from Australia.

But the judge overruled Hassan’s objection on grounds he failed to produce evidence.

Justice Kimaru said Sirat had produced a national identity card showing he is a registered Kenyan.