Punish witnesses in bribe claims, lawyer tells court

 By Renson Buluma

A lawyer in an appeal challenging the election of Funyula MP Paul Otuoma has asked the court to punish a witness who admitted to poll offences during the General Election.

Senator James Orengo, appearing for Mr Otuoma, asked Busia resident judge Francis Tuiyott to determine whether confessions by some witnesses that they took bribes during the elections deserve to be punished in accordance with the law.

Mr Orengo, while citing a recent case in Nairobi in which a witness confessed having voted twice was jailed, asked the court to take action or caution witnesses that they breached the law.

“My lord, giving and taking a bribe is a criminal offence punished by the law. The court should give guidance on action that needs to be taken against witnesses who admit they took bribes,” he said.

Scare others

But one Mr Oundo, a lawyer representing the petitioner, said taking action against witnesses who admit to taking bribes may scare the remaining witness from testifying. However, Judge Tuiyott in his response said the court may not caution witnesses because some of them could be committing perjury to achieve their objective.

“The court will be able to determine whether the bribery claims are true or false and will make necessary recommendation,” said Tuiyott. The matter was raised after a witness, Rahedi Oduor, who is a teacher, claimed Otuoma dished out cash to teachers. He cited two meetings where he alleged the MP paid teachers a bribe of Sh700 and Sh1,000.