Date set for Magara suit submissions

• Lawyers told to conclude their cases on December 3

The conclusion of a petition challenging the election of an assistant minister drew closer as the hearing of evidence ended on Thursday.

The parties in the petition challenging the election of Mr Omingo Magara as MP for South Mugirango were given until December 3 to file and exchange their written submissions.

Mr Justice Daniel Musinga told them that on December 4, they would only be allowed 45 minutes to highlight the main points of their arguments.

The judge will give his ruling thereafter.  

More votes

A statistician who had been hired by Mr Magara of the ministry of Trade told the court that data that was made available to him showed that  some candidates received more votes from the  recount than those announced by returning officer Joseph Omambia.

Mr Kennedy Muchire, who was being cross-examined by Mr Omwanza Ombati, the lawyer for petitioner Manson  Oyongo, said his analysis showed that Form 16A gave Mr Oyongo 5,758 votes against Form 17A’s 5,679 votes, giving him an extra 79 votes while Mr Magara scored 10,204 in 16A.    
According to the witness, the recount gave Mr Magara 9,802 votes and Mr Oyongo 5,840 votes.

Mr Muchire told the court that he tabulated the data as given to him by Mr Magara with the errors and that it was not his business to correct them.
He added that from his tabulation, the outcome of the election was only affected by a percentage margin.   

 Earlier, a senior police officer refuted claims by the returning officer that he had reported that the petitioner had caused chaos at Nduru tallying centre, leading to the disruption of the exercise.

However, Mr Bruno Shioso, who was the then Gucha district criminal investigation officer, admitted that there was tension at the centre because of an exchange of words by supporters of various candidates.

He told the court that no candidate was singled out as having caused the mayhem.

He also said his officers had not reported to him that any forms 16A were grabbed from the tally table by the petitioner.

Mr Antipas Nyanj’wa, a document expert from CID headquarters, told the court that the signature allegedly appended by Mr Magara on the minutes of a meeting in Awendo was forged.

He declined a request by Mr Omwanza that he compare Mr Magara’s signature on the minutes with that on his ID, saying he needed specialised equipment to do that.