Former Turkana Senator John Munyes has lost a bid for the recount of votes cast in 143 polling stations.
Mr Munyes, who was last week appointed to the Cabinet, was challenging the re-election of Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok.
PETITION
High Court Judge Stephen Riechi held that Mr Munyes was supposed to have raised the request for recount of the 143 polling stations early to enable Mr Nanok and the electoral body to respond to the issues he was raising.
He had earlier requested the scrutiny and recount for only three polling stations.
The judge said the law, which requires that all the contested polling stations be mentioned in the court papers within the earliest opportunity, was intended to ensure that there is no ambush on any party in the case.
The other parties in the case are made aware from the outset the questions that are likely to be raised so that they have an opportunity of placing relevant evidence before the court on that pleaded aspect for the court to consider.
SCRUTINY
“Mr Munyes had only sought scrutiny in three polling stations in his petition. No reason has been tendered to this court in the application for the expansion to 143 polling stations,” said Justice Riechi while dismissing the application.
The judge said allowing scrutiny in the extra 140 polling stations would be expanding the scope of the petition after Mr Nanok and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had closed their case.
Mr Munyes did not adduce any evidence of votes cast, the results announced and the results recorded by his agents to show any discrepancy that should be resolved by a scrutiny and recount of votes, he said.
The judge added that a party who makes allegations of electoral malpractice in a polling station must be specific and provide as many particulars of the alleged malpractice as possible.
VOTE
Mr Nanok, through lawyer Philip Nyachoti, had opposed the application for scrutiny and recount in 143 polling stations.
He said that Mr Munyes had only requested that the exercise be conducted in three polling stations, whose total registered voters is 1,042 and therefore extremely insignificant in view of the margin between the two politicians in the declared results.
Mr Munyes and Mr Nanok were the only candidates for the governor election for Turkana County on August 8, 2017 on Jubilee and ODM Party tickets, respectively.
Mr Nanok was declared winner having garnered 73,913 votes while Mr Munyes got 53,306 votes.
APPLICATION
IEBC told the court that Mr Munyes has clearly introduced new polling stations that were previously not raised in the pleadings, and that his act amounted to a fishing expedition seeking to introduce and unearth fresh evidence.
It argued that it had already closed its case alongside Mr Nanok, and it would not be permitted to clarify any issues arising.
Mr Munyes had defended his application, saying scrutiny cannot be limited only to the three polling stations he had sought, but to the stations where there was a dispute and that the court should not limit itself to the polling stations in the petition only, provided that as a petitioner, he has laid a basis for the same.
