Kitui Rural MP David Mboni Mwalika threatened to sue the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for delaying Kitui Rural parliamentary elections.
Speaking after casting his vote at Mbitini Primary School in Kitui Rural, Mwalika lamented that he had used a lot of resources that he had not planned to use, and he strained a lot after the polls were postponed. He said that he would sue IEBC to get compensated for incurring more expenses.
“The IEBC made a mistake in the ballot papers and they put wrong photos against our names and so we couldn’t do anything at that time, the funny thing is that when they said they have postponed the election for two weeks and before the two weeks ended they pushed the elections for another week,” Mwalika said.
He stated that he was worried after the IEBC pushed the elections for another week because that meant that he would need to use more money for some expenses, including paying agents, and also, the time they were given to conduct campaigns meant they needed more money.
“I was disappointed because politics needs money since it is expensive, and that’s why we have incurred a lot of expenses, and the funny thing is that when we went to have a meeting with IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati he just told us that he is sorry and nothing else he can do. As a candidate for this parliamentary seat, I will go to court and ask to be paid by the IEBC; the expenses I used after the election was pushed forward because I have suffered financially and mentally, my family has suffered, and my supporters have also suffered,” he added.
The MP candidate also alleged that he got reports there were cases of voter bribery in his home turf, especially on the night before elections, although no one has been caught.
Another case was reported in Kanyangi where a woman who claimed to be Wiper Party agent was found without documents ascertaining whether she was an agent and was forced to leave the polling station after allegations that she wanted to bribe voters streaming to the polling station. Mwalika and his opponent Charles Nyamai revealed that there was low voter turnout in the election and called upon the IEBC to conduct a free, fair, transparent, and accountable election.
According to provisional results, Mwalika is leading in the tallied votes.
