IEBC clears Igathe, Samboja as Wavinya, Malombe await verdict

Nairobi governor hopeful Polycarp Igathe gestures as he walks into Bomas of Kenya on June 5, 2022, to attend the clearance of Raila Odinga and Martha Karua by IEBC to vie in the August 9 election. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja was yesterday cleared to seek re-election after a petition seeking his disqualification was dismissed.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Dispute Resolution Committee said that Samboja had furnished IEBC with a valid degree certificate.

The three-member panel faulted a complainant who had claimed Samboja's degree, acquired from a Costa Rican university, was fake, saying he had relied on Wikipedia as his source of information.

"Wikipedia is not a reliable source as it can be edited by anyone at any time," Wambua Kilonzo, who chairs the panel, said.

The tribunal ruled that they could not rely on aspersions or suspicions to render their judgement.

"The first respondent (Samboja) presented a foreign degree certificate authenticated by the Commission for University Education," it said.

The panel said it was beyond IEBC's mandate to investigate the authenticity of academic documents.

The complainant also wanted Samboja disqualified for allegedly breaching provisions on ethics, grounds that were also dismissed.

The panel also quashed calls for it to hear allegations presented in the 2017 election cycle, when Samboja ran for his first-term.

At the same time, a complaint to have Polycarp Igathe disqualified from contesting Nairobi's governorship was also dismissed.

A complainant, who had claimed that Igathe's nomination to fly the Jubilee flag was irregular, did not turn up.

"The complaint is dismissed for want of prosecution," IEBC commissioner Justus Nyang'aya read the judgement.

Meanwhile, the panel postponed issuing judgements to cases involving Wavinya Ndeti, seeking the Machakos governorship on a Wiper ticket and another involving former Kitui Governor Julius Malombe to tomorrow.

The verdict of a complaint against Karungo wa Thang'wa, vying to be Kiambu senator through the United Democratic Alliance, was also pushed to tomorrow, as well as other judgements that were expected yesterday.

Parties protested the postponement, saying they had not been notified. "Please note that due to unavoidable circumstances, rulings slated for today will be delivered on Monday," a notice outside Panel 2, presided over by Kilonzo of IEBC, stated.

An IEBC official not authorised to speak on behalf of the commission said the judgements were ready and the panelists going through them.

"They did not want crowds," another source said, with a third saying that the huge workload facing the panelists had prompted the delays.

By Friday, the three panels had delivered 163 judgements out of the 262 complaints that were filed.

The Sunday Standard has also learnt that the delays have, partly, been occasioned by a shortage of printing material.

Panelists have in the last few days complained that they lacked sufficient papers.