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ECK official claims ‘devil’ altered election documents

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Published on Thursday, 02 October 2008 02:17
An ECK official stunned a court in Kisii when he claimed the devil caused flaws in election documents at the centre of a petition. Mr Tobias Gitahi Macharia, who was the returning officer for Bomachoge constituency during last year’s General Election, said discrepancies detected in Forms 16A, 17A and his notebook were beyond his knowledge.

"It is a miracle and I can’t attribute it to anybody. It was the devil’s work," Macharia told the court, yesterday. But Kisii Resident Judge Justice Daniel Musinga told Macharia that the matter at hand was serious.  "Mr Macharia, the devil was not party to this election," Musinga added.

Macharia was testifying in petition against Bomachoge MP and National Heritage Assistant Minister Joel Onyancha. He, however, said he was not sure at what point the documents were tampered with between Nairobi and Gucha ECK offices. Macharia was being cross-examined by Mr Katwa Kigen, lawyer for petitioners Simon Ogari and former MP Charles Nyang’wara on his second day in the witness box.

Katwa challenged Macharia to furnish him with the devil’s address so that he could be summoned to court to testify. The lawyer said the documents the returning officer wanted the court to rely on were defective, but Macharia denied, saying his notebook contained the true account of events.


The judge then wondered whether Macharia’s notebook was factual. Macharia denied altering the figures to favour a certain candidate, saying he had no vested interest in the polls. He could not explain why entries for several candidates were not the same in Forms 16A, 17A and his notebook. Hearing continue