Roba (Jubilee) and Hassan (Economic Freedom Party) are co-accused of failing to avert the occurrence of violence on July 22 when their respective supporters clashed in Takaba town, Mandera West constituency/JEREMIAH WAKAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 31 – The electoral code of conduct breach case against Marsabit governor Ukur Yattani and his opponent Mohamud Mohamed Ali will be heard before a new panel Tuesday after the former asked a member of the Electoral Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee to recuse themselves from hearing the matter.
Yattani who is vying on the Frontier Alliance Party (FAP) and his main rival Ali (Jubilee Party) are both accused of failing to rein in rowdy supporters last week.
Supporters of Yattani and Ali are said to have caused violence which led to the destruction of property and grievous bodily harm to supporters of rival camps.
According to the charge sheet, the two breached paragraph 65 of the code of conduct which prohibits the use of force or violence during the election period.
“A person who, directly or indirectly in person or by any other person on his behalf, inflicts or threatens to inflict injury, damage, harm or loss on or against a person- [a] so as to induce or compel that person to support a particular candidate or political party; [b] on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting; or [c] in order to induce or compel that person to vote in a particular way or refrain from voting, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both,” it states.
In the interim, IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati said orders issued Friday prohibiting the two from campaigning will remain in force pending the determination of the case.
“The matter will be heard before a new panel but our orders remain in force. There will be no campaigns by either of the parties in the entire county pending the determination of this matter,” Chebukati directed.
However, the hearing of a case involving the Mandera Governor Ali Roba and his rival Hassan Noor Hassan went on with the committee ordering them to produce evidence in their possession by 1pm on Monday.
Roba (Jubilee) and Hassan (Economic Freedom Party) are co-accused of failing to avert the occurrence of violence on July 22 when their respective supporters clashed in Takaba town, Mandera West constituency.
Chebukati dismissed concerns on the manner in which the charge sheet was drafted which Hassan’s legal team argued did not directly put the blame on his clients on chaos witnessed on the said date.
“If you look at the code, there is no line drawn between the candidate and the supporters and therefore we expect what supporters do, they are purely under the directions of the candidate,” Chebukati stated.
So far 55 cases touching on the breach of the electoral code of conduct have been determined.
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