Jomvu parliamentary loser Seif Kajembe’s son says IEBC blocked his agents

By WILLIS OKETCH

Mombasa, Kenya: Jomvu parliamentary loser Seif Kajembe has claimed that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) blocked his agents from accessing polling stations during the March 4 poll.

He told Justice Vincent Odunga in Mombasa yesterday that over 30 per cent of his agents were not allowed into the polling stations and were not able to know what was happening there.

Mr Kajembe was testifying in a case in which he has urged the election petition court to nullify the election of his brother-in-law Twalib Badi as Jomvu MP.

A voter, Lucy Njoki, claimed  she saw voters being bribed by a woman in Miritini before voting.

Ms Njoki, who was Kajembe’s third witness, told the court that she reported the incident to the police officers who were manning the polling station gates but nothing was done.

She claimed the woman allegedly bribing voters sped away in a vehicle after realising she had been noticed.

The witness claimed she was with another woman identified only as Mama Fatuma when she saw the alleged bribery going on.

The petitioner’s agent, Palte Balu, testified that she was denied entry into Shee Primary School after reporting there at 6 am.

“I produced my party’s appointment letter as an agent at Shee Primary School but the IEBC officials at the polling station denied me access,” said Balu.

She said that she stayed in place until  6pm without stepping into the polling station and yet she had been appointed as an agent.

Kajembe’s lawyer, Kithi Ngombo, said he would apply for a scrutiny of votes and recount because the petitioner had proved that his agents were denied opportunity to know what was going on at the various polling stations.

Kithi told the court results announced in some polling stations could not be verified due to the absence of agents.

 He said this was one of the reasons why in some instances, Form 35 was not signed by Kajembe’s agents after the counting of votes.