Court orders vote recount in petition against Wambora
An election petition court sitting in Embu has ordered for
partial scrutiny and recount of a section of votes used in the August 8
gubernatorial election.
Mr Justice William Musyoka said
former Senator Lenny Kivuti, who has contested Governor Martin
Wambora’s win had demonstrated that there were numerous errors in the
tallying exercise.
He cited Gategi Primary School
polling centre stream one in Mbeere South constituency where electoral
officials conceded that Mr Wambora had been erroneously been awarded 400
votes.
TALLY
Mr
Musyoka said evidence showed errors in forms 37A suggesting that several
candidates had lost votes while others had their tally increased.
The
judge said while the final tally announced by Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission officials indicated that Mr Wambora beat Mr
Kivuti by 985 votes, some IEBC officials had conceded that the margin
could have been 299 votes.
He said electoral laws allowed for a scrutiny in the event the dispute showed a slim margin.
“The
IEBC officials attributed the anomaly to fatigue, saying they handled a
total of six elections on August 8, and the gubernatorial votes were
the last to be counted. Guided on the law on recount and scrutiny, in
cases where the margin is very close… it is my finding that there is
sufficient basis for recount,” said Mr Musyoka.
REPORT
Delivering
the ruling in a packed courtroom, Mr Musyoka said the partial recount
and tallying would be carried out in Manyatta, Runyenjes and Mbeere
South constituencies.
The exercise will be carried out
from January 22 and will be supervised by the deputy registrar who will
also file a report on the findings.
Mr Wambora had opposed vote recount arguing that ballot materials had been interfered with.
The matter will then be mentioned on February 7.
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