I Was Not Rigged in, Mike Sonko Says

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has rubbished claims of his predecessor Evans Kidero that the August 8th election was rigged to his advantage.

Responding to a petition filed to quash his August 8th victory, Sonko said that the claims by his predecessor unsubstantiated as they were not backed by facts.

Sonko maintained that he trounced his competitors in a free, fair and transparent manner, in an election carried out within the dictates of the constitution and the law.

The petition was lodged by voter Japheth Muroko and Kidero was enjoined as an interested party.

In his submissions, Kidero has alleged that there were irregularities in more than 60 per cent of the Forms 37A used to announce Sonko the winner.

He also argued that forms contained multiple errors, while others lacked polling station tallies and others did not have requisite security features. He submits that the irregularities affected more than 308,918 votes.

He also said that 798 of the 1,300 Forms 37A used, a section of them had not been signed by the agents and presiding officers, while some had varied dates.

In his response, Sonko questions the source of data submitted by Kidero, adding that information presented before the court by the former county boss was not there in electoral forms.

He also denies claims that party agents were flushed out from polling stations, and asked the court to quash the claim, since Kidero failed to name the affected polling stations.

He further dismisses claims that there were higher number of voters than those registered in some polling stations.

“At the hearing hereof, the 3rd respondent shall rely on the contents of Form 37C of the Nairobi county to prove that the results of each of the county’s polling stations, and it is self-evident there is none with a higher voter turnout compared to the registered voters,” Sonko said.

He wants the court to dismiss the petition in its entirety.