Court orders vote recount in petition against Wambora

An election petition court sitting in Embu has ordered for partial scrutiny and recount of a section of votes used in the August 8 gubernatorial election.

Mr Justice William Musyoka said former Senator Lenny Kivuti, who has contested Governor Martin Wambora’s win had demonstrated that there were numerous errors in the tallying exercise.

He cited Gategi Primary School polling centre stream one in Mbeere South constituency where electoral officials conceded that Mr Wambora had been erroneously been awarded 400 votes.

TALLY

Mr Musyoka said evidence showed errors in forms 37A suggesting that several candidates had lost votes while others had their tally increased.

The judge said while the final tally announced by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials indicated that Mr Wambora beat Mr Kivuti by 985 votes, some IEBC officials had conceded that the margin could have been 299 votes.

He said electoral laws allowed for a scrutiny in the event the dispute showed a slim margin.

“The IEBC officials attributed the anomaly to fatigue, saying they handled a total of six elections on August 8, and the gubernatorial votes were the last to be counted. Guided on the law on recount and scrutiny, in cases where the margin is very close… it is my finding that there is sufficient basis for recount,” said Mr Musyoka.

REPORT

Delivering the ruling in a packed courtroom, Mr Musyoka said the partial recount and tallying would be carried out in Manyatta, Runyenjes and Mbeere South constituencies.

The exercise will be carried out from January 22 and will be supervised by the deputy registrar who will also file a report on the findings.

Mr Wambora had opposed vote recount arguing that ballot materials had been interfered with.

The matter will then be mentioned on February 7.