On Friday, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official from Starehe Constituency confirmed that Jubilee Party flag-bearer at Kibra by-election , McDonald Mariga, is a registered voter.
The official, alongside the complainant and respondents had appeared at IEBC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) chaired by the body’s Chairman Wafula Chebukati with Commissioners Boya Molu and Prof. Abdi Guliye as members.
However, it was discovered that though the official confirmed Mariga was registered voter, the former football star had not signed the application Form A despite his witnesses having done so.
“You have witnesses in Form A but there is no signature of the applicant. Whose mistake is it?” the IEBC chair questioned.
The official, Ismael Yassin, had hard time explaining why the anomaly happened and said they discovered the error after the applicant had left.
“That was an oversight, the time we realised that the client had gone,” Yassin said.
Yassin further failed to point out whose mistake it was but said the mistake sometimes happen and that a mark was indicated for the applicant to append his signature.
The implication of the mistake is yet to be established since the tribunal is expected to rule over the matter on Monday.
The football star was issued a red card after the Kibra returning officer Beatrice Muli found his name missing on the voter’s registrar.
“We received Mariga document on September 10 and Mariga went through the nomination process the same way other candidates did. We have a checklist which we use to clear candidates,” she said.
She further added that the only way she could authentic Mariga’s registration status was through the KIEMS kit.
The Jubilee candidate had presented himself with an acknowledgement slip to prove his registration status.