Baringo Woman Rep aspirant arrested, disqualified

An independent candidate for Baringo woman representative was on Wednesday evening arrested over forgery allegations.

Kaptuya Cheboiwo was arrested at a hotel in Kabarnet over forged signatures she presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission as she sought its nod to vie for the seat.

The aspirant is alleged to have forged signatures that were required by the IEBC as a requirement for an independent candidate.

She was held at the Kabarnet police station as investigations got under way.

However, her supporters, who were camping outside the police station, dismissed the accusations.

DISQUALIFIED

Baringo County Returning Officer Mohamed Gurre said a candidate is disqualified if he or she fails to submit relevant papers before the stipulated deadline.

"The aspirant failed to submit her certificates at the stipulated time and that means that she has been disqualified from contesting since it was the last day for woman representatives to be cleared by the IEBC," said Mr Gurre.

According to election rules, an independent aspirant for woman representative is required to submit a hard and soft copy of a list of 1,000 supporters and their signatures.

The aspirant was defeated in the Jubilee Party nominations, emerging third with 21,131 votes behind Susan Chesiyna's 39,856 votes.

Baringo County Criminal Investigation Officer Festus Malinge confirmed the arrest.