Video: IEBC reject Kethi Kilonzo’s application

That means that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) does not have Ms Kilonzo on its register, yet it cleared her to vie in the July 22 by-election in Makueni County.

Wiper Democratic Party lawyer TJ Kajwang had sought to have the three Green Books presented in court and scrutinised to confirm that Ms Kilonzo was a registered voter at the NCC Hall in Karen.

But after painstaking look at the three books on Saturday evening by Terry Mwai, the Returning Officer of Lang’ata Constituency where the polling station is based, Ms Kilonzo’s name was not found.

Ms Kilonzo had on Friday revealed that she was a registered voter, and tabled the acknowledgement slip issued by the IEBC to certify the validity of her registration.

The IEBC also acknowledged that it cleared her to vie for the seat on the basis of an acknowledgement slip issued by the commission.

The County Returning Officer Salat  Boru said the commission’s staff checked Ms Kilonzo’s documents and they were in order. But there was just one problem: “The IEBC staff did not locate her name in the register at Makueni County.”

They then checked the registers for the whole country against her ID number, but then Ms Kilonzo’s name did not show up, said Mr Boru.

“It is at that point that I realised that the process was likely to take longer than the ordinary case, where all details could be found,” said Mr Boru.

Call IEBC headquarters

It’s at this point that he decided to tell Ms Kilonzo and her team to leave the room and wait.

Meanwhile, he called the IEBC headquarters and sought to see if Ms Kilonzo’s name was in the Green Book of Lang’ata constituency.

But even with that, only one Green Book was available. Mr Boru said the returning officer of Lang’ata Constituency told him that the other Green Books “were inadvertently locked in ballot boxes” and could only be accessed after a court order is issued.

“Having established that much, that the two boxes can only be available through a court order, and we were working against the clock — it was the last day of statutory time allowed for nominations– we could not delay the process any further,” said Mr Boru.

“We made the decision. Of course, she came with a document –the acknowledgement slip—which I believe originated from the IEBC. With some part of the Green Book being unavailable, and her being in possession of other documents, I was forced to clear her,” said Mr Boru.

Source-nation.co.ke