The accusation that Kethi was in possession of a stolen acknowledgment slip, Orengo said, was no reason to bar her from contesting elective office as the matter had not been brought before a criminal court and all mechanisms of appeal exhausted.
As for the petitioners’ claim that they were ambushed with the information that the acknowledgment slip in Kethi’s possession was stolen, Nyamodi said his clients were respondents just like Kethi during the committee hearings and were simply exercising their right of reply.
Nyamodi therefore asked the bench to dismiss Kethi’s petition as she had already received, contrary to her petition, a fair hearing.
“The petitioner (Kethi) cannot seek to challenge the Dispute Resolution Committee’s appellate jurisdiction when by her own admission The National Alliance had already raised concerns over her voter registration,” Nyamodi said.
Driving its own agenda, the Wiper Democratic Movement said it was unfair for the IEBC to lock it out of the Makueni Senate seat by-election as there was no way for it to verify Kethi’s voter registration.
“The green books were in a ballot box that is evidence in another trial. How then were my clients supposed to get their hands on it?” Tom Kajwang defended Wiper.
Kajwang went on to challenge the IEBC to prove that Wiper nominated a candidate it knew was not registered before locking it out of the Makueni Senate race.
Now that the arguments are complete, Wiper and Kethi’s political future now lie in the hands of lady justice.
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