Hearing on a petition challenging Kisumu Women rep seat kicks off.

 Kisumu County Women Rep Rosa Buyu{C} greets one of her supporters after the adjournment of a case challenging her election on August 8 this year.The case has been filed by her opponent Grace Akumu of CCP-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

By Dickson Odhiambo.

November 7, 2017.

Hearing on a petition challenging Kisumu Women rep seat kicks off.

 Hearing of an election petition challenging the election of Kisumu County Women Representative Rosa Buyu has kicked off in Kisumu High Court.

The petition was filed by Grace Akumu of Citizens Convention Party {CCP} who contested the seat but lost to Rosa Buyu of Orange Democratic Movement {ODM} Party during the General Election that was held on August 8, 2017.

The petitioner has listed IEBC as the first respondent and Kisumu County Women Representative Rosa Akinyi Buyu as the third Respondent in the petition.

 During the hearing of the petition which is before Lady Justice Tripsisa Cherere, the petitioner Grace Akumu told the court that she is challenging the process of the election which was carried out by the Independent Electoral Commission arguing that the election of the Women Representative of Kisumu County was not conducted in accordance to the law.

During the cross-examination which lasted for nearly three hours, Akumu alleged that in some polling stations within the county where the election was carried, some agents allegedly signed forms 39As despite their names not being submitted earlier by the ODM party as its agents.

She also claimed that some forms 39As used by IEBC during the election for the Kisumu County Women Representative seat did not have security features.

The Petitioner claims that in some polling stations, the results of the elections were changed in favor of the third respondent.

The petitioner further claimed that some agents of the third respondent wore the ODM party badges instead of IEBC badges indicating that they were agents accredited by the electoral body.

One of the prayers of the petitioner is that she wants the court declare her as the winner of the election that was held on August 8 this year.

“If election was done fairly and right forms 39As used, I would have won the election that was conducted on August 8 this year,” Akumu told the court.

But two lawyers representing both the first and the third respondent put the petitioner to task to prove to court which polling stations in particular did the changing of the election results take place as alleged by her but she did not tell the court which these polling stations were.

“My lady, this is a very serious allegation by the petitioner where she alleges that election results were changed in some polling station in favor of the third respondent and we want her to prove to the court this allegation,” one of the lawyers of the third respondent told the court.

On her prayer for the court to declare her the winner of the election, the lawyers for the first and third respondents told the court that the petitioner cannot be declared the winner because she is challenging the process of the election and not numbers where the third respondent has over 300,000 as compared to hers which is only over 42,000 and the petitioner is claiming that the process was fraudulent.

“Your prayer to seek for declaration as the winner of the August 8 polls does not hold water because you are challenging the process and not numbers hence you can’t be declared as a winner in that election you claim was fraudulent,”  one of the lawyers of the first and third respondents further told the court.

Lawyer Ken Omollo represents the Petitioner while lawyers Jackson Awele and Zephania Yego represent Rosa Buyu and IEBC respectively.

Hearing of the case continues.

ENDS: