Gatundu South MP moves to court to stop rigging claims
Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has challenged the ongoing proceedings before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over poll-rigging remarks he made last month during the United Democratic Alliance party NDC.
Kuria who filed the petition at the Milimani Law Courts yesterday, claimed that he has a right to a fair hearing.
He says the electoral body commenced the process not to preserve the sanctity of anything, but to protect itself from public scrutiny arising from its refusal to comply with Supreme Court orders 5 years later.
“The conduct by the respondents is unbecoming of public officers. The applicant, being aggrieved by the said actions of the respondent has, thus, filed this application in order to seek redress from this honourable court pursuant to the court’s jurisdiction,” reads court papers.
The order Kuria is speaking about required the commission to open the servers following claims of irregularities in the presidential petition at the Supreme Court an order that is yet to be complied with.
Also sought is an order directing the commission to avail a report of the purported investigations conducted.
He further wants the court to order the commission to cease any kind of investigations against him over the same subject matter and a declaration issued that the summons by the IEBC are unconstitutional.
The IEBC last month summoned Kuria over remarks he made that they helped steal votes for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the previous elections.
The commission in the summons indicated it has seized a report and material against Kuria for violating the electoral code of conduct.
This, however, was not availed to him when he presented himself before the electoral body.
“Some are saying the Mt Kenya vote will be divided. Ann Waiguru, Rigathi Gachagua, Muthomi Njuki, Kimani Ichung’wa, Senator Linturi, Alice Wahome, Faith Gitau, Kimani wa Matangi…we are the people who guarded Uhuru’s votes, and we are the ones who stole the election. (Kuna wengine wanasema ati kura ya mlima itagawanywa; mheshimiwa Ann Waiguru, Rigathi Gachagua, Muthomi Njuki, Kimani Ichung’wa, Senator Linturi, Alice Wahome, Faith Gitau, Kimani wa Matangi…Sisi ndio tulikuwa tukishikilia Uhuru kura, na sisi ndio tulikuwa tunamuibia kura),” Kuria said.
This comes after the High Court granted Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege a respite after the IEBC summons for vote-rigging accusations were rejected.
Justice Anthony Mrima ruled that the electoral body does not have powers to issue summons and that the IEBC Code of Conduct does not apply because candidates are yet to be determined.
Chege made the comments at a political rally in which she claimed the 2017 elections were rigged.
She had moved to court to block the IEBC from hearing her case, claiming that it had no jurisdiction because she had not submitted any papers indicating her intention to run or even proclaimed her candidacy.
