Aspirants' senate bids hang in balance

Lawyer Kethi Kilonzo’s bid for the Makueni Senate seat suffered a blow after her name was found missing from the master voter register.

The High Court had ordered that a ballot box from NCC Hall in Karen, Nairobi, where Ms Kethi had allegedly registered to vote, be opened to access three Green Books locked inside to ascertain whether her name was in the register.

At the event before a tribunal of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission at the Milimani Law Courts that was witnessed by Lang’ata constituency Returning Officer, Ms Teresia Mwai and lawyers for the various parties, it emerged that Ms Kilonzo’s name was missing from all the registers.

This is a significant development in the battle between the two main coalitions, Cord and Jubilee, in their bid to capture the Makueni Senate seat left vacant following the death of Ms Kilonzo’s father, Mutula Kilonzo.

Jubilee candidate, Prof Philip Kaloki, also faced the tribunal after issues were raised over his Narc party membership, with complaints filed by two petitioners — a People’s Party of Kenya member and a voter in Makueni.

However, the hearing failed to take off after the two witnesses failed to show up, with the tribunal directing that their lawyers submit written submissions to the team by noon today. These, together with the complainants’ written affidavits, will be used to guide the tribunal in delivering a verdict tomorrow.

Both Cord and Jubilee supporters will be eagerly waiting for the two decisions in what is turning out to be a high stakes contest for the seat.

President Kibaki

On Saturday, Mr Letangule had a hard time controlling counsel for Ms Kilonzo who included Mr Harun Ndubi, Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang’ and Ms July Soweto. The lawyers sought to fault the IEBC register and the claims by the commission’s Director of Voter Registration Immaculate Kasait that Ms Kilonzo’s vote chit was not valid.

Ms Kasait told the tribunal that an IEBC acknowledgment slip presented by Ms Kilonzo was the one used to clear former President Mwai Kibaki when he registered as a voter on November 19, last year.

“This particular slip was used to register the former President and could only have been stolen while in the custody of the IEBC,” she said, after referring to a counterfoil where details of Mr Kibaki had been entered by a registration clerk.

However, Ms Kilonzo’s lawyers blamed the electoral body, saying it was in possession of voter registration materials and should, therefore, explain how their client came to be in possession of the slip.

It also emerged that a single booklet issued by the IEBC after voters registered between November 19 and December 18, last year, was used to register Mr Kibaki and that five slips, including that issued to Ms Kilonzo, were missing.

Ms Kasait said someone must have plucked the four slips, adding that the incident and how Ms Kilonzo came to possess a different acknowledgement slip that did not bear her details, were the subject of an investigation.

Ms Soweto also challenged Ms Kasait’s evidence that a valid passport or original identity card was required to register as a voter and yet Ms Kilonzo was allowed to register with an expired passport and a copy of her ID.

Cord leaders led by Machakos and Kitui senators, Mr Johnstone Muthama and Mr David Musila, sat pensively throughout the hearing.

Ms Kilonzo’s side identified disparities in the “Green Books” produced at the hearing, noting that there were over 5,000 people who voted at the NCC Social Hall polling centre against 4,296 names contained in the three green books, and that some names had been superimposed on the registers, with the original ones blotted out using white out.

But IEBC officials explained these alterations were made when voters went to verify their details and required changes.

During Friday’s hearing, Ms Kilonzo was asked how she registered without having her original identification documents but answered that it was the IEBC officials who could answer that question since her only concern was to be registered.

“My duty as a Kenyan was to apply to be registered as a voter. It wasn’t my duty to verify if indeed I was registered or if my details were entered in the Green Book.”

She added that it was not a big deal if her name was not in the register since the Supreme Court and IEBC officials had found out that the process of voter registration was flawed.