Snake attacks lawyer in Kisii hotel

By ROBERT NYASATO

An election petition against Kitutu Masaba MP Walter Nyambati was adjourned yesterday after a snake reportedly attacked the lead defence lawyer Osoro Mogikoyo at his hotel room in Kisii town.

The court was adjourned after hearing that Mogikoyo had been attacked by a snake in his room at Mwalimu Hotel, and could not talk.

Counsel for parties in the petition filed by Justus Omiti, Otiende Amolo for the petitioner and Fred Orora for respondents — the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) and Returning Officer Lawrence ole Sempele and Jackson Omwenga for Nyambati rushed to Mogikoyo’s hotel room to ascertain the situation.

Mogikoyo, who was in a daze, communicated in writing, saying he heard a knock and push on his door at about 4am, and when he opened the door, a huge black snake attacked him and coiled itself around his neck.

"I tried to scream but sound could not come out since it had squeezed my neck," he wrote on a piece of paper.

Investigate the matter

Mogikoyo was expected to cross-examine Omiti on his evidence yesterday. Trial Judge, Justice Asike Makhandia, ordered Kisii DCIO Michael Mwenze to visit the hotel to investigate the matter and present a report to the court.

Makhandia postponed the hearings until Monday to give room for Mogikoyo to recover from the attack, or the MP to pick another lawyer.

However, Amolo protested at the adjournment saying it was a delaying tactic employed by the respondent to derail justice.

Mwenze, together with court Chief Prosecutor Julius Emase, visited Mogikoyo at the hotel and recorded a statement from him.

The petition had been pending since 2008 when it was filed and has so far gone through six judges.

Omiti, who was chief agent for ODM candidate Timothy Bosire, completed giving his evidence and 15 more witnesses will testify in favour of the petition. In his testimony, borrowed heavily from correspondence between the Returning Officer and defunct ECK, Omiti told the election court that Nyambati was a beneficiary of a flawed process and never won fairly.