High Court orders Lamu ballot boxes sealed

The High Court has ordered the electoral commission to seal all the ballot boxes used in August 8 General Election in Lamu until the determination of a petition.

Justice Dorah Chepkwony issued the order on Wednesday following an application by former Lamu Governor Issa Timamy who has challenged the election of Mr Fahim Twaha.

EVIDENCE

“It is important that evidence of elections to be preserved as it is with or without changing the character of the ballot boxes unless on good reasons,’’ ruled the judge.

In his application, Mr Timamy sought to safeguard the ballot boxes, saying they might be tampered with before the hearing and determination of the case to conceal evidence.

In his petition, Mr Timamy has urged the court to scrutinise and recount votes cast and declare him the winner if the recounted results indicate that he won the elections.

The former county boss has also sued Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), County Returning Officer Adan Mohamed, Governor Twaha and his deputy Abdikarim Aboud.

VOTERS

Mr Timamy claimed that Mr Twaha’s running mate, Mr Aboud, being a former Lamu East Constituency returning officer, influenced the outcome of election in favour of Mr Twaha.

In his affidavit, Mr Timamy claimed that about 300 registered voters did not cast their ballots as their names were missing from the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management Systems (KIEMS).

The petitioner has also accused the IEBC of flouting the election process by allowing some people vote without verification.

On August 10, Mr Twaha was declared the winner of the gubernatorial race with 22,969 votes against Mr Timamy's 22,848 votes.

The case will be mentioned on October 12.