Poll officials face probe for allowing double voting

Thirty seven poll officials among them four police officers will be investigated over allegations of allowing double voting.

Mr Justice Richard Mwongo directed the police to investigate the election officials manning two streams at Kaloleni polling station with a view to prosecuting them for permitting voters to cast their ballots twice in the parliamentary election.

“Police are hereby ordered to summon the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials manning streams 2 and 5 to record statements from them forthwith,” ordered Justice Mwongo, who is hearing the petition by former Nairobi mayor George Aladwa, challenging the election of Mr Benson Mutura Kang’ara as Makadara MP.

The judge further directed police “to commence investigations with a view to prosecute or otherwise those officers or any of them either alone or in conjunction with one witness, Daniel Nyakundi, who admitted to voting twice.”

Nyakundi was on June 7 sentenced to two years in jail by senior principal magistrate Lucy Mbugua.

Upon admitting that he committed an election offence, Mr Aladwa’s lawyers Cecil Miller and Pauline Kamunya-McAsila applied to have the IEBC officials investigated alleging that there was cheating in the parliamentary poll.

Mr Aladwa accused the returning officer, Ms Florence Kwamboka Mogaka, of compromising the election.

Ms Mogaka yesterday admitted on cross-examination by Mr Miller that the poll results were convoluted.

“Do you agree that the final poll results you entered in Forms 36 do not tally with the results you received from polling officials?” Mr Miller asked Ms Mogaka.

“Yes the results appearing in the documents before court are different,” she admitted.

The judge has directed lawyers Miller, Kibe Mungai (for MP), Onsando Osiemo and Titus Atiego (IEBC and Mogaka) to file their written submissions in answer to all issues raised by Mr Aladwa in his petition.