IEBC officials arrested after refusing to count votes
IEBC officials, a presiding officer, and deputy presiding officer arrested after refusing to count votes in Kisauni Constituency, Mombasa County.
According to reports by police, the duo was put in custody for sabotaging the vote counting process after learning that a certain candidate had garnered more votes in the elections.
Ibrahim Wario, the Kisauni Constituency Returning Officer, reported the suspects’ refusal to count the ballots at the polling place to the Nyali Police Station despite repeated requests from the agents and the Returning Officer.
The two IEBC officials will face charges under the election Act 2016 for wilfully rejecting or refusing to count ballots, according to Nyali Police Commander Daniel Masamba.
“The suspects are already in police custody awaiting to be arraigned in court to face relevant charges,” Masamba stated.
“They will be charged with willfully rejecting or refusing to count any ballot paper which they knew or had reasonable cause to believe such a person was entitled to vote which is an offence under the election Act of 2016,” a police report reads.
This comes after another four IEBC officials were arrested last week after attending a meeting held by a parliamentary aspirant.
The Homa Bay county IEBC returning officer, Fredrick Apopa, affirmed that the officials engaged in election malpractice by attending the meeting.
The returning officer noted that the fate of the officials rests in the hands of the police and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide on whether to take further action against them.
The four election officials were later frog-matched to the nearby police station. Some election officials at the scene, however, managed to escape from the house in due time before they were nabbed by the irate residents.
Witnesses claimed the IEBC officials were colluding with some of the candidates in order to gain an upper hand in the Tuesday, August 9 poll.
Ndhiwa’s sub-county police boss, Paul Rioba, stated that investigations were ongoing in order to establish the basis of the discussions.
Also read,
Four IEBC officials arrested in a secret meeting at a politician’s home
IEBC materials destroyed by members of public while on transit to polling stations (VIDEO)
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