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2017 KENYA ELECTIONS

IEBC fines Kaloki Sh500,000 over electoral offence

The decision was made by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee on Friday after summoning Kaloki to answer accusations of violence and intimidation levelled against him by incumbent MP Jesica Mbalu/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 23 – Kibwezi East parliamentary aspirant Philip Kaloki has been fined Sh500,000 for flouting the electoral code of conduct.

The decision was made by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee on Friday after summoning Kaloki to answer accusations of violence and intimidation levelled against him by incumbent MP Jesica Mbalu.

In a ruling, the committee’s chairperson Wafula Chebukati warned that the Commission will not hesitate to disqualify Kaloki from participating in the August 8 General Election should he fail to remit the fine within 24 hours.

He was found guilty of orchestrating violence against his competitor as stated by the legislator who lodged the complaint.

During the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the Commission heard that Kaloki had consistently frustrated efforts by Mbalu to address political rallies in the constituency after her clearance by the constituency returning officer to vie for the seat on June 2.

“I kept avoiding him and his supporters but he kept following us with his rowdy supporters came to disrupt our meeting at a point when I was being called to address the people,” Mbalu told the panel almost breaking into tears.

Kaloki however dismissed the allegations at the time saying that he had at no point triggered violence against Mbalu or even intimidated her.

“I was a Member of Parliament of the same areas and you honour I can assure you that I am a candidate who is going to play by the rules. My advocacy for the Jubilee government’s achievements cannot amount to intimidation,” he argued.

Further, the committee ordered Kaloki, “to refrain from orchestrating acts of violence and intimidation during the currency of the election period.”

The committee however dismissed a case involving Lang’ata parliamentary aspirants Kavore Kariuki and Nixon Korir in which the former accused the latter of election violence, on grounds of insufficient evidence.

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The Kibwezi East ruling is the third in a series of rulings by the committee in which candidates in the forthcoming general election have been fined.

On Thursday, Bungoma governor Ken Lusaka and his competitor Wycliffe Wangamati became the first aspirants to be fined in the run-up to the polls with the committee ordering them to pay Sh1 million each within 24 hours or be disqualified from vying.

Lusaka (Jubilee Party) and Wangamati’s (FORD Kenya) supporters clashed in Bungoma town on June 2 leading to the death of a woman who succumbed to a bullet wound.

The matter is still under investigation by police to determine who fired the stray bullet that led to the death of the woman.

In another ruling, the committee ordered Netto Adhola to pay Sh250,000 within 48 hours or risk being disqualified after he was found to be in violation of paragraph 6g of the Electoral Code of Conduct.

Adhola was accused by his competitor Erick Onyango – the ODM nominee for Rarieda constituency in Siaya County – of using party colours in his campaigns despite being an independent candidate.

The committee further ordered Adhola to quit with immediate effect the use of ODM colours and the portrait of its leader which could mislead voters to the detriment of Onyango who is the legitimate nominee of the party in Rarieda.

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