61-Point-OBSERVATIONS FROM THE KETHI KILONZO ELIGIBILITY HEARING BY THE IEBC TRIBUNAL

Mutuiri Tnc Gitonga 

‎#Stolen 

1. Hearings rushed. Kethi's team taken completely by surprise. Covered live

2. Comissioner Letangule, the head of the tribunal obviously hostile towards Kethi's lawyers

3. Objections based on the fact that documents needed from IEBC are crucial for defense overruled

4. Witness 1 paraded....needs to refer to the document to even tell where he lives

5. Kethi's lawyer questions witness one on how he knew of Kethi's ineligibility

6. Commissioner Letangule urges Kethi's lawyer on to move past her questions. An irritated Kethi's lawyer insists on asking the questions

7. CORD Lawyers were visibly angered by the ambush. Kajwang was literally shouting orders at the client while Kethi's lawyer's anger was visible from her eyes

8. Witness 1 unable to explain how he became privy to the information regarding lack of registration by Kethi. It takes a mischievous lawyer to get the witness to point out the section of the affidavit.

9. The commission overlooks claims that Witness 1 is being provided with questions. Objections by Kethi's lawyer overruled.

10. Commissioner Letangule makes fun of Kethi's lawyer while overruling her objection.

11. Second witness, Hon. Ndetei is paraded. She claims that IEBC admitted that Kethi was not on the register. The source of her information: rumours in Makueni. She then did a search and got the information that Kethi's name is not in the register.

12. Kajwang interrogates Ndetei. Her affidavits state that she was informed of all the facts by the Jubilee coalition secretary of legal affairs. This is contrary to her assertion that she obtained the information from IEBC.

13. Hon. Ndetei points out that Lawyer Mbiuki was the source of information. Suggestions are made that Mbiuki should disqualify himself as an advocate and be a witness in the case.

14. Hon. Ndetei claims to have interrogated the voter's register: the hard copy of the voter's register.

15. Kethi's lawyer Ms. Soweto interrogates. She asks why Hon. Ndetei has been seeing Kethi's mother. She admits that she was consulting with Kethi's mother to lobby for Kethi to have Kethi run on a Jubilee ticket.

16. Kethi's mother says that either Kethi or Mutula Junior could take up the Jubilee tickets....only for her to hear later that Kethi was to run in Wiper.

17. Hon. Ndetei admits to having looked for Kethi in her house and spent 2 hours without seeing her. Her intention was to talk to Kethi to run for the seat in any party in Jubilee.

18. 3 complainants shy away and withdraws the rest of the witnesses. This prompts Kethi to be summoned

19. Kethi asks that the tribunal takes a short break to get the original documents from her office. It's granted and the tribunal takes a 30-minute break

20. The tribunal resumes at 3.30pm. Kethi states that she's unable to produce the originals which she would produce by 8am the next morning. Kethi affirms that she is a registered voter. At the time of registration, her identity card was lost. She used her passport to register as a voter. She affirms that she registered at Karen. At the Ngong Forest academy. NCC social hall was the polling station for the registration centre. She was presented with a laminated acknowledgement slip by the IEBC. The produced these documents when getting clearance to run for the seat. The IEBC office checked in their lists. She was cleared after the acknowledgement slip was a valid document from the IEBC and proof of registration.

21. Letangule asserts that the acknowledgement slip is not proof of registration. The tribunal blocks references to the supreme court which Kethi attempts to invoke to validate her status as a registered voter.

22. Kethi confirms that many Jubilee representatives tried to pursuade her to run on a Jubilee ticket. She acknowledges that Hon. Ndetei sought out her mother who had assured her that Kethi would be a jubilee candidate and says that the promise have nothing to do with her.

23. Lawyer Kajwang puts it that the challenge on her candidature could have been motivated by the fact that Jubilee is embittered after she rejected their offer.

24. Under cross-examination by Kajwang, she asserts that she has no responsibility to insert her name in the IEBC registered. That notwithstanding the fact that she did not confirm registration, the responsibility to have her name be on the register is not hers.

25. Complainant's lawyers interrogate. It emerges that she went for registration with a copy of her ID as the original was lost and the original passport. Her registration was accepted after she sufficiently identified herself.

26. Complainant's lawyers assert that a registration centre is the same as a polling centre. Others in court assert that during the registration, the registration centres were more than the polling stations. Some registration centres were not polling centres.

27. Kethi asserts that she sufficiently identified herself as a Kenyan and that was the basis on which the registration officer was satisfied and granted the registration. Brilliantly, clearly and calmly, all questions were tackled remarkably

28. Personal observation: I am learning the law late: (3) Any citizen of Kenya who has attained the age of eighteen years as evidenced by either a national identity card or a Kenyan passport and whose name is not in the register of voters shall be registered as a voter upon application, in the prescribed manner, to the Commission. No reference to "valid" in law

29. Complaint lawyers decode the number on the acknowledgement slip to show that she was registered on a different place, time and year. Kethi maintains that her slip was IEBC's.

30. The tribunal blocks attempts for Kethi to pinpoint the station where she registered.

31. Further cross-examinations reveal that numerous cases existed where registered voters were not appearing in the voter registers.

32. Serial numbers are created by IEBC. Not by the registered voter. There's therefore no way a registered voter can be held to account for mistakes committed by the IEBC

33. IEBC cites time constraints AGAIN and says that some of the documents sought cannot be provided. The officer who cleared her for the seat does a pathetic job at defending his decision.

34. Tribunal tries to restrict the time allowed to Lawyer Soweto to interrogate an IEBC witness. Reluctantly allows her to take her time.

35. Miss Soweto refers IEBC witness to the facts of law: proves that an expired passport and a copy of ID card are valid sources of identification. No mention of the term VALID in law.

36. Soweto gets IEBC witness to point to find that other registrations were done using expired passports. Soweto demonstrates that the same registered person was not only registered as a voter but also a candidate.

37. Tribunal gags Soweto's interrogations asking that the no other registrations to be mentioned but Kethi's. Clarifications made by Ndubi. Interrogations allowed.

38. Soweto objects to the witness being coached and provided with answers to Soweto's questions. Objection ignored by the tribunal. Commissioner Letangule defends the witness saying that she has been candid so far. Commissioner Letangule asks Miss. Soweto not to fight everybody in court and urges her to move on to other questions.

39. Commissioners try to gag Soweto's attempt to use Bura's elections petition. Deliberations lead to her being allowed to continue with crossexamination but Commissioner Letangule insists on Bura being left out. But the sequence of case being built is broken. She has to pick the pieces from where the commissioners interrupted.

40. Important dimension being dealt with is the allegation of theft. The commissioner is expected to prove that such theft took place and why it was not reported to the police.

41. After a brief exchange, the commission rules that all matters not directly before the court should not be used during the interrogation.

42. Soweto insists that since IEBC have impuned their own document, it is only in order that interrogation be done using other IEBC documents. She insists that the rules of evidence do not allow the commission to limit her on the questions that she can ask the witness.

43. Kethi rises to her feet and insists that she must be allowed to clear her name since the IEBC appeared to allege fraud on her part.

44. Interrogation based on Bura petition continues, but Ms. Soweto has only 30 mins. The serial number from Bura candidate's card is interrogated. From deciphering the serial number on the card, it emerges that the other card was registering in April 2013. The IEBC witness denies this.

45. The witness refuses to confirm registration number and date of registration. The witness refuses to answer the question. This brings the fact that the serial number does not necessarily show the date. On being compelled by the commission, the witness confirms that serial number on the Bura petition indicates that the date is April 4 2013. N registration was going on in 2013 as voter registration ended in 28 December 2012. Despite this, Mr. Noor Abdi was accepted as a registered voter and cleared to run for an elective seat.

46. Noor Abdi was cleared to run in Bura and not find his name in any of the registers at the IEBC.

47. The IEBC witness confirms that it was possible for people to register in one centre and register in a different centre. But she affirms that the registration and polling station would be stated as the same. Soweto cites the case of Halima Abdi, on the Bura petition was a registered voter. She was registered to vote but could not vote since the name was not anywhere in the matter. The witness declines to answer.

48. The IEBC witness affirms that it was possible for people who were validly registered to vote to have failed to vote because their names did not appear in any register. Commissioner Letangule interrupts again...cites time constraints. 2 slips are given for and witness declines to answer.

49. Maulidu Shukri Salat's card is cited. Witness declines to answer based on the fact that numbers are not clear. 020812- is the illustration of 2nd august 2012....no registration was going on at that time. Tribunal urges Soweto to wind up

50. Witness refuses to acknowledge that Kethi's card is not the only one with anomalies.

51. Soweto is gagged. Her protests stating that she requires more time for further questions are disallowed.

52. Commissioner Letangule says in unequivocal terms that further questions would not help. The decision will be determined based on very simple parameters. The underlying undertones signal that the decision is predetermined.

53. The greenbooks are provided with claims that they have never been opened. Information comes out that the ballot boxes have been interfered with by NSIS. The tribunal attempts to gag claims that the NSIS may hae tampered with. Lawyer Kajwang insists that he has credible evidence and he reserves the right to prove that the greenbooks are not the original ones.

54. Madam Soweto insists that she must finish with the witness before the issue of the box is visited.

55. Harun Ndubi insists that an affidavit must be provided to indicate that the greenbooks are the original ones. A brief exhange follows between the commissioners and lawyers leaning towards CORD. Curiously, there seems to be no conflict between the commissioners and Jubilee affiliated lawyers.

56. All remaining lawyers, Kajwang and Ndubi restricted to 30 minutes. As expected, the witness responds slowly to buy time. Zero intervention from the commissioners

57. Interrogation continues. Soweto gets her to answer more questions. IEBC slips are filled in by IEBC officials who are keep them. IEBC had custody of Kethi's card. Kibaki's slip is produced but witness cannot confirm that the slip-counterfoil in the tribunal is the one Kibaki was given.

58. Focus on the green books. In the absence of a counterfoil, the witness fails to answer if one can tell where the slip came from.

59. Witness tries to evade Ndubi's questions asking for the tribunal's protection. A slip produced by Ndubi is found to have incomplete serial number. Kibaki's registration is brought to question. The booklet that registered Kibaki was the only one in the booklet...separate from other voters. The booklet used on Kibaki is not contained in any of the registers. In other words, if kibaki's registration booklet was stolen, the commission would never have known who is registered there.

60. The serialisation is brought into question by Ndubi to prove that there is no specific sequence. Numerous alterations are discovered. Further interrogations indicate that entries for serials were not a valid indicator of where a polling or registration centre is. Witness gets more emphatic....as Ndubi asserts that the time that the registration booklets could have been made as late as yesterday evening

61. Ndubi gets witness to affirm that there is a person allowed to remove names and the registration officer is the one who recommends the removal of the names. Ndubi: it is possible for the commission to remove a name from the register...for whatever reason...

IT DOESN'T REQUIRE ROCKET-SCIENCE TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING.

Only a fool does things the same way and expects different results. Perhaps it's time we gave up on democracy.