Oswago wants court to stop raids by EACC

IEBC CEO James Oswago 

By PAUL JUMA, pjuma@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, August 12  2013 at  16:06

Elections boss James Oswago has moved to court to halt further raids on his homes, accusing the anti-corruption commission of peddling “wild allegations of corruption” against him.

Mr Oswago, the chief executive officer of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has asked the High Court in Nairobi to order the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to stop raiding his homes and office.

He accuses the commission of violating his privacy and property rights, denying him the rule of law and natural justice and violating “elementary standards of investigations.”

“The respondent (EACC) never contacted me either in an endeavour to inform me of the said wild allegations nor did they afford me an opportunity to be heard and respond to the same,” he says in his affidavit.

The commission already summoned him and he complied and gave information regarding the procurement of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kit and the Electronic Voter Identification Devices (EVIDs) used in the last elections, hence was not justified to search his private residences, he argues.

“The petitioner has never been requested to furnish any information concerning his personal or private life to the respondent,” he says.

Last week, anti-corruption commission detectives raided his Nairobi and Siaya homes at night and searched for documents and information relating to the suspect procurement of electronic equipment that failed during voting in the March 4 General Elections.

Mr Oswago’s lawyer, Mr Jotham Arwa, filed the suit under the certificate of urgency and presented the case before Justice Mumbi Ngugi.

The electoral commission chief seeks an order suspending a magistrate’s search warrant that the commission relied on to conduct the raids and searches. He also wants any further raids on his property halted until his petition against the anti-corruption commission is heard.

Justice Ngugi certified the application for the orders urgent and directed Mr Oswago’s lawyers to serve the commission with the suit papers for hearing of both parties on Thursday.

The electoral commission is being investigated on allegations of malpractice in the tendering of the BVR and the EVIDs that were used in the General Elections.

The identification devices failed on the voting day, causing concerns on the IEBC’s conduct of the elections. The Supreme Court, in its judgement that validated the contested Presidential election result, recommended the investigation for possible criminal prosecutions of the IEBC staff who may have been involved in malpractices during procumbent of the equipment.

In his suit, Mr Oswago claims that the anti-corruption commission “maliciously abused their prosecutorial powers by peddling falsehood to a magistrate’s court and using the same to mislead the court into giving them authority” to search his premises.

The proceedings, which were at a Magistrate’s court in Kibera Law Courts, were conducted in utmost secrecy, he claims. He also accuses the anti-corruption commission of publishing malicious falsehoods alleging that he engaged in unprocedural procurement practices and solicited for bribes from suppliers.