NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 12- Hundreds of supporters of Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula are gathered at the Milimani Law Courts to express their support as he is given a public hearing by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
CORD leader Raila Odinga is leading other opposition leaders and supporters who were chanting slogans in support of the Senator.
According to IEBC, Wetangula’s lawyers have already filed their submissions on why the Senator should not be deregistered as a voter.
The Commission at the beginning of last month tasked a committee led by Commissioner Thomas Letangule with determining whether the Senator should continue to hold office.
This follows findings by the Court of Appeal that the Senator was guilty of bribery in the last general election.
Armed Police officers have been deployed inside and outside of the court to ensure peace prevails.
It’s a pivotal moment for the troubled senator who risks losing his seat if the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission approves a report by the Supreme Court which found him guilty of committing an electoral offence.
Section 87 of the Elections Act requires the Speaker of the Senate to publish the report by the Supreme Court in the Kenya Gazette which the electoral body then takes up, reviews and recommends necessary action.
“The relevant Speaker shall publish a report made under this section in the gazette and the commission shall consider the report and delete from the register of voters the name of a person who is disqualified from being registered in the voters register,” the Act states.
Part of the gazette notice by Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro reads, “On March 17, 2015 the Supreme Court of Kenya in Petition No. 12 of 2014 Moses Masika Wetangula and Musikari Nazi Kombo and 2 others found that Moses Masika Wetangula Senator of the County of Bungoma committed the election offense of bribery during the March 4, 2013 general elections.”
It went on to state that “the court made this finding after considering the record of fact before it and the findings of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.”
Section 24 of the Elections Act states that for a person to qualify for nomination as a Member of Parliament one must be a registered as a voter.
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