Ranguma claims Nyong'o connived with IEBC to rig him out

Former Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma was on Tuesday hard pressed to substantiate claims that Prof Anyang' Nyong'o connived with the electoral commission to influence the outcome of the August 8 elections.

Mr Ranguma, who has filed a petition contesting the election of Prof Nyong’o, had argued in the High Court in Kisumu that the governor benefited from an arrangement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to deny him a chance to retain his seat.

But during cross examination in a case before Justice David Majanja, Prof Nyong'o's lawyers poked holes into that claim, putting the former county leader on the defensive.

Lawyers James Orengo and Antony Oluoch sought to get proof from Mr Ranguma that the IEBC deliberately planned to have Prof Nyong’o win the election.

“The IEBC officials were able to access the servers, edit results and make the declaration in favour of Prof Nyong’o,” said Mr Ranguma.

AGENTS

Mr Ranguma accused the commission’s officials of refusing to allow his agents to inspect ballot papers for them to ascertain if they were the original and required materials.

Mr Ranguma claimed Prof Nyong’o was also conniving with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in acquiring original forms for recording results.

“IEBC allowed one person to vote more than once and only ODM agents were allowed to verify results. This they did after conniving with Nyong’o,” Mr Ranguma told the court.

SEALS

The former governor, who ran as an independent candidate and lost, argued that that on many occasions they found the seals of many ballot boxes opened and the explanation they were given was that the election officials had forgotten forms 34A inside them.

He also pointed out that his agents were ejected or prevented from accessing polling stations, leading to failure by IEBC to secure spoiled ballots which he claimed were counted in favour of Prof Nyong’o.

But Mr Ranguma was unable to name the specific agents who were allegedly ejected.

RESULTS COPIES

“Some presiding officers refused to issue my agents with copies of results at polling stations. Some of my results were swapped with my competitor’s while on other occasions my votes were deducted and added to Prof Nyong’o,” said the former Kisumu County boss.

But Mr Orengo put Mr Ranguma to task to explain how Prof Nyong'o used propaganda to malign his name during the campaign period and influence the outcome.

In his affidavit, the former governor had accused Prof Nyong'o of using the six-piece voting campaign to alienate him from voters.

“They used the term ‘Gochne uru Raila gi lange’ (Vote for Raila and his ilk), to ensure their six-piece propaganda resonated well with the voters,” said Mr Ranguma.

RALLY

He also claimed that during a political rally in Kisumu, Prof Nyong’o and other ODM politicians accused him of using county government funds to purchase Imperial Hotel.

But Mr Orengo, while demystifying the six-piece narrative, questioned how two legislators in Kisumu County managed to go against the ODM wave to clinch their seats on other parties’ tickets.

Kisumu West MP Mr Olago Aluoch retained his seat on a Ford Kenya ticket while Mr Shakeel Shabbir won the Kisumu East seat as an independent candidate.

“You cannot make these wild allegations in your affidavit and fail to have them in your petition,” said Mr Orengo.

However, Mr Ranguma said the allegations fell under a summarized paragraph.