COUNTY POLITICS: Former Raila aide Caroli Omondi wants results in Suba South nullified

A former aide of Opposition leader Raila Odinga, Mr Caroli Omondi, has petitioned the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to nullify results that declared party chairman John Mbadi winner of the Suba South Constituency primaries.

Mr Omondi disputed final results which indicated that Mr Mbadi had 12,365 against his 11,597 and asked the party’s election tribunal to investigate the results as they had glaring anomalies.

“I am petitioning the party’s tribunal to consider evaluating results of three polling stations that had anomalies,” said Mr Omondi on Wednesday.

He cited three polling centres - God Oloo primary school, Mikuyu primary school and Miria primary school, which he said recorded higher number of voters than those registered.

At God Oloo, with 569 registered voters, Mr Mbadi got 869 votes, Mr Omondi 19 while aspirant Jacky Nyandeje had one vote.

NULLIFY RESULTS

At Mikuyu (252), Mr Mbadi had 189 votes while Mr Omondi and Ms Nyandeje had 55 and 15 votes respectively.

At Miria, with 235 registered voters, Mr Mbadi scored 170 votes while Mr Omondi had 49.

Mr Omondi wants the board to nullify the results and declare him winner of the hotly-contested poll.

But Mr Mbadi on Wednesday refuted claims of irregularities in the three polling stations, saying that he had fairly won the polls.

“I urge my brother Omondi to accept the results. It is not fair for him to dispute results of a contest in which he has lost,” said Mr Mbadi.

WEIGHING OPTIONS

The two leaders’ exchanges came even as other losers started weighing their options in the wake of what some of them termed “shambolic and nonsensical nomination exercise ever witnessed in the county”.

Suba North parliamentary aspirant Jim Agembe Akali, too, urged ODM elections board to nullify the results in which the incumbent Millie Odhiambo was announced the winner.

Mr Akali declared he would still “be at the ballot even if the party fails to solve the crisis which he warned could cause voter apathy in the constituency.

In Karachuonyo, aspirants Anderson Ojwang’, Tom Dola and Seth Okute protested the declaration of a brother to ODM election board secretary Bob Arunga as winner of the ticket.

Mr David Arunga, a former ambassador to Egypt was accused of being favoured by his brother who chairs the party’s election board.

Aspirants Anderson Ojwang’, Tom Dola and Seth Okute protested at the results saying that it could hurt the party’s support in the area.