Election loser wants evidence thrown out

By Patrick Kibet

Nakuru, Kenya: A poll petitioner has asked Nakuru High Court to strike out a response to election petition filed by Njoro MP Joseph Kiuna.

Through lawyer Mbuthi Gathenji, petitioner Karanja Kabage wants the High Court to find a response filed by Kiuna to the election petition as defective and did not follow rules.

While pleading with Justice Anyara Emukule, Gathenji argued that the response was not properly before court and should not be admitted as evidence.

Gathenji argued that the 34-page response was filed out of time and did not qualify as either an affidavit or a response.

“The 34-page defence purports to be an affidavit when it’s not and does not comply with the election petition rules,” he told the court.

He argued that if the court finds the response to be defective, the evidence from Kiuna and his witnesses will be null.

Kiuna, through lawyer Jeremy Njenga, contested the claims noting it was a plan to end the petition through a technicality.

Njenga wondered why the petitioner was raising preliminary objection on the responses yet they had a chance to do so at pre-trial stage.

The court has ordered OCS Mau Narok Police Station Richard Siele to preserve OB records for January, which relate to the case.