Taveta voter sues IEBC over ‘illegal’ voter registration, transfer
A Taveta voter has sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), accusing it of registering voters away from the constituency office.
Mr George Mutuku claims that though the IEBC restricted voter registration to constituency and regional offices after the lapse of mass voter registration on February 6, voter transfers have been going on in Taita Taveta’s Lang’ata village, which borders Kajiado County.
In his petition at the High Court in Mombasa, Mr Mutuku says illegal registration is going on at the home of an officer working in the office of Taveta MP Naomi Shaban and is supervised by the area police and chief.
Besides the IEBC, Mr Mutuku has also sued the Taveta constituency election coordinator, the police division commander and the Taveta deputy county commissioner.
The voter claims these officials and Constituency Development Fund officers had colluded to discreetly move biometric voter registration (BVR) machines to the home of the constituency officer.
“The illegal voter registration is going on at the home of an officer working in the office of Taveta Member of Parliament and is supervised by jurisdictional police officers and area chief,” Mr Mutuku says in his petition.
The IEBC officers coordinating voter registration in Lang’ata village, he said, had closed the constituency offices to register voters at the constituency officer’s home.
The petitioner claims voters seeking to register at the IEBC constituency offices were stranded as BVR machines were moved overnight to Lang’ata village.
“The entire process of voter registration at the undesignated location is marred with irregularities as people of a particular origin identified by the CDF officers are allowed to participate,” the petition says.
Mr Mutuku says prospective voters are asked to provide their names and identity cards to an individual before being allowed to enter the registration point.
“The petitioner is aware that after registration, the imported voters are each paid Sh500.There is also food prepared during the registration process which has been provided by the office of MP,” court documents say.
Before his petition is determined, Mr Mutuku wants an order issued directing the constituency election coordinator to furnish the court with proof of authority from the IEBC allowing voter registration outside the designated constituency office.
He also wants a list of all voters registered on February 23 at the Ole Polos polling station and copies of their national identity cards and the application forms of voter transfers made.
The petitioner wants the court to declare that the process of mass registration at Ole Polos is unlawful and unconstitutional.
He also wants the court to rule that the sued officers are unfit to hold public offices.
He also wants the court to restrain the respondents from registering or transferring voters in Lang’ata village.
Justice John Mativo has certified the petition urgent and directed that the case be mentioned on March 10. BY DAILY NATION
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