Evans Kidero is wrong, I did not rig the election – Mike Sonko

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. He has dismissed an election petition challenging his win. 

In Summary

• Governor Mike Sonko denied colluding with election officers to tamper with results.
• Dr Evans Kidero said that more than 60 per cent of the Forms 37A used to declare Mr Sonko the winner had anomalies.

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has dismissed claims by his predecessor Evans Kidero that the election was rigged in his favour.

In a reply to a petition in court, Mr Sonko said Dr Kidero has made unsubstantiated claims, which are not backed by facts. He maintained that the election was free, fair and transparent and conducted in accordance with the principles, spirit and intention of the Constitution.

ANOMALIES

The petition was filed by Mr Japheth Muroko and Dr Kidero was enjoined in the case.

Dr Kidero has claimed that more than 60 per cent of the Forms 37A used to declare Mr Sonko the winner contained irregularities. He said some of the forms had multiple anomalies, others had no polling station tallies and others lacked the requisite security features.

These anomalies affected more than 308,918 votes.

Dr Kidero said in 798 of the 1,300 Forms 37A used, some were not signed by the agents and presiding officers, others had varied dates yet they were announced from the same polling station while others were not stamped.

In reply, Mr Sonko questioned Mr Kidero’s sources of electoral data, saying he has quoted figures that were not contained in the forms. He has also dismissed claims that agents from other parties were barred from polling stations, and asked the court to dismiss this claim because Dr Kidero had not named the affected polling stations.

VOTER BRIBERY

Mr Sonko has further dismissed claims of voter bribery and has said the petitioner should state where it happened.

The Nairobi governor also dismissed claims that in some polling stations, the voter turnout was higher that the registered voters.

“At the hearing hereof, the 3rd respondent shall rely on the contents of Form 37C of the Nairobi county to prove that the results of each of the county’s polling stations, and it is self-evident there is none with a higher voter turnout compared to the registered voters,” he said.

Mr Sonko has denied colluding with or promoting collusion with presiding officers to do any unlawful acts with a view to manipulating or tampering with the election, voters, voting or transmission of results.

Dr Kidero said that only forms from Dagoretti South and Starehe constituencies, of the 17 constituencies, had all the required security features.

"Handing over or taking over was written as 38B instead of 37A, different format signed by one agent with the same handwriting purporting to be different agents, and some copies lacking serial numbers," he said.