Suleiman Shahbal’s witness jailed for perjury

By WILLIS OKETCH

A chief agent for Mombasa gubernatorial race loser Suleiman Shahbal has been jailed for three months by a court for perjury.

A judge ordered that David Nyonga Mwakemba be locked up after finding that he had told lies in his testimony against Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho whose victory  Shahbal is challenging.

Mwakemba appeared before High Court Judge Fred Ochieng on Monday and was handed the jail term after the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission IEBC tabled a report disputing his sworn evidence that he had voted in the March polls without being a registered voter.

IEBC’s report shows that the convict was registered to vote and his name appears in the manual and biometric rolls.

However, the report shows that his name was not crossed out to indicate he had voted. Mwakembe was the second witness to be accused of perjury. 

On Monday, Mwakemba started his new life behind bars after Justice Ochieng found him guilty of lying on oath that he voted at Kiembeni Baptist polling station on March 4 and yet his name was not on voters’ register.

Mwakemba, who was represented by Gikandi Ngibuini, insisted that his name was not on the register on the voting date.

several malpractices

He had  claimed that he witnessed several malpractices during the polls  including people voting without being registered.

But IEBC lawyer Mr Sanjeve Kagram rebuffed the claims and cautioned Mwakemba  against lying on oath.

But it is after he insisted that he voted on that day even though his name was missing from the voters’ register,  that Sanjev applied to have him cited for perjury.