|
 District,
A voter has gone to court to
challenge the election of Mandera Central MP Hussein Mohammed Abdikadir.
Mr
Adan Mohammed Ahmed wants the court to nullify the constituency’s parliamentary
elections and the MP’s election.
He
further wants the court to determine that the MP was not validly elected as the
member of the National Assembly for Mandera Central constituency.
The
petitioner also wants the court to order an audit of all the votes recorded as
having been cast in the area.
Mr
Abdikadir won the seat on a Safina ticket after garnering 12,884 votes.
Immediate former MP Billow Kerrow came second on an ODM ticket with 10,588
votes.
On
the eve of the polling day, the voter says, Mr Abdikadir went round the
constituency informing people that the election had been postponed.
This,
he said, impeded the free exercise and prevented the constituents from going to
vote.
He
further claimed that on the same day, Ethiopian militia invaded the area and
intimidated and harassed the constituents. The militia, the voter said, snatched
voter’s cards from those who did not support Safina, the party which sponsored
the parliamentary winner.
Mr
Ahmed accused the MP of committing electoral offences by allowing voters to cast
their ballot more than once.
The
petitioner says Mr Abdikadir gave money to induce people to vote for him.
Also
being challenged is the election of Mr Walter Enoch Nyambati as the Kitutu
Masaba MP.
A
loser, Mr Moses Nyabega, wants the court to nullify the parliamentary election
and order a recount of the votes cast in the constituency.
Mr
Nyambati won the seat with 7,401 votes on the NLP party ticket while his rival
on an NDA ticket got 7,146.
The
petitioner accuses the MP of using intimidation to influence the tallying.
Story by SAMWEL KUMBA and
CAROLINE RWENJI
Publication Date: 1/24/2008
- Your
Are Guest Reader #
|
