Letangule: Forget the politics, we relied on evidence in Kethi's case

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has defended its decision to bar Kethi Kilonzo from vying for the Makueni Senate seat saying it relied on evidence.

The chairman of the dispute resolution committee Thomas Letangule said the evidence showed that Ms Kilonzo was not a registered voter as required by the constitution as was therefore ineligible to vie for the seat. 

“We purely based our decision on the evidence before us. Forget about the politics. You will be shocked that Kethi did not possess a valid passport until June 20,” said Mr Letangule when he appeared on NTV prime news Tuesday night.

The tribunal's decision has sparked criticism but Mr Letangule said the IEBC acted professionally.

“The public can make a judgment but we got a legal mandate to give our decision on any matter that comes before us,” he said.

The decision has been rejected by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) which said IEBC could not arbitrate on a matter in which it was an interested party.

On Monday, the committee comprising Mr Letangule, Mohammed Alawi and Yusuf Nzibo, revoked Ms Kilonzo's candidature saying she was not a registered voter.

The IEBC had cleared her to contest the Makueni Senate seat on a Wiper ticket.

Mr Letangule also sought to clarify the assertion by Cord that the tribunal had no mandate to hear the case saying the Constitution gave it power and legality to hear disputes. 

Mr Letangule said police were investigating the circumstances under which Ms Kilonzo came to be in possession of an IEBC acknowledgement slip after the Director of Voter Registration Immaculate Kassait testified that it was stolen.