Eunice Machuhi
27 August 2008
Nairobi — Voters in Bura constituency who were allegedly turned away by presiding officers were never called to testify to give reasons why they were barred, the High Court was told on Wednesday.
There was, therefore, no need of calling presiding officers of those polling stations to confirm or deny the allegations in the absence of testimony from the voters, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) said.
Mr Lumatete Muchai, representing the electoral body, also told Mr Justice Festus Azangalala, sitting in Mombasa, that voters who found some polling stations closed and voting concluded were not also called to give evidence.
Mr Muchai presented his submissions in an election petition filed by voter Abdurehman Halakano against Bura member of Parliament Abdi Nassir Nuh and the ECK.
The judge will make a ruling on September 29. The petitioner claims that 124 voters were turned away from six polling stations.
But in the list of particulars, none of their voters' cards were made available to the court. The polling stations were not identified.
The petitioner, who has also alleged that the returning officer, Mr Joel Mwamburi, allowed agents to campaign at polling stations, did not also produce evidence to support his allegation.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
