The ghost of the election petitions has returned to haunt former Ugenya Member of Parliament Christopher Karan.
Karan was today arrested in Mombasa by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives for allegedly forging documents used in an election petition.
His lawyer George Mugoye Mbaya and two doctors George Owino and Mohammed Adan Mohamed have also been arrested over the forgery.
They are accused of colluding to prepare and use the forged documents in the petition challenging the election of Mr. Karan filed by the former MP David Ochieng'.
Mr Karan is accused of allegedly presenting a forged letter indicating that he had been admitted to Alfarooq Hospital, as a justification for responding to the petition after the deadline.
In the sworn affidavit he presented in court, Karan said he has been admitted to the facility with fever and vomiting from September 6 to 13, 2017.
EACC says they will be charged with the “offences of providing false information under the leadership and integrity act 2012, forgery, uttering false documents, and making false declaration under the penal code”.
Where it began
When former MP David Ochieng of the Movement for Growth and Democracy challenged the validity of the win, Karan (who was the third respondent) risked being locked out of the case as he did not respond to it before the deadline.
Karan then presented the letter from the hospital and was allowed to file his response past the deadline.
In March 2018, High Court Judge Justice Thrispisa Cherere ruled that Karan’s election had been marred with several irregularities which started during the campaign period and proceeded to the election day.
Karan appealed the decision and lost his bid to hold on to the seat after the Court of Appeal turned down his petition.
He then moved to the Supreme Court where the nullification of his victory was upheld on grounds that his win was marred by irregularities.
Come April 2019, the little known Movement for Growth and Democracy (MDG) party upstaged Karan’s ODM in Ugenya by-election.
David Ochieng (MDG) won the mini-poll by 18,730 votes to Karan’s 14,507 votes.
