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REVEALED: Underhand tactics used to rig SONU elections


Evidence has now emerged on the crafty tactics used in last week’s elections of the students union at University of Nairobi.

The tactics followed a familiar script of violence, stuffing of ballot boxes and election officials favouring the incumbent by announcing fictitious results.

Elections at the Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU) are usually hard-fought as candidates seek to control the purse strings to the millions of shillings deducted from students as annual fees.

Already a petition has been filed challenging the election of Paul Ongili, also known as Babu Owino, as chairman along with three officials elected for Secretaries of Gender Affairs, Finance and Health dockets.

Geoffrey Mosiria, who was vying for chairmanship, filed a petition Monday challenging the election of Babu Owino on grounds that the election was not fair.

RE-COUNT

“We want a re-count to be done and if invalid votes are found in the ballot boxes, the entire election should be nullified and a new election done under tight security,” he said during an interview with Nairobi News.

Calls to the elected SONU chairman Babu Owino and the election Lead Commissioner Moses Wanjara for a comment on the allegations went unanswered.

According to sources, commissioners in charge of polling stations were announcing results different from those tallied.

In one instance at School of Physical Sciences in Chiromo Campus, a candidate running for the Health and Environment post was leading with 337 votes while her opponent had 12 votes.

“To my surprise when the commissioner in charge of all the stations in Chiromo Campus announced the combined results for the entire campus, the one who had 337 votes in our station was said to have garnered 300 votes across all stations,” said a student.

One candidate at Kikuyu Campus, Dorah Keino, who was vying for the position of Secretary for Gender Affairs, narrated how the commissioner read out fictitious results not recorded on the official form.

“He was reading the results not as they were on the form and when I started shouting that he reads the correct figures I was dragged out of the room,” narrated Ms Keino.

Other candidates claimed they were contacted on phone by commissioners in charge of elections at satellite campuses who were asking for money before results could be rigged in their favour.

“I was called by the commissioner Mombasa Campus and he told me that he needed an outrageous amount of money for him to rig the election results in my favour. Since I am new in university politics, I just told him to put for me the results I deserve,” said Sasha Wamae a candidate for Secretary of Health and Environment.

In some campuses like Upper Kabete and Kikuyu no voting took place as goons disrupted the voting process.

PHOTOCOPIED BALLOT PAPERS

Cate Muchiri who vied for the position of Secretary of Finance revealed that at Lower Kabete Campus, 400 ballot papers were photocopied and marked for her opponent.

“As we were going round the campuses with my friends, we stumbled upon a group of young men at Chiromo Campus  carrying four booklets of ballot papers and one of the booklets that usually has 100 papers had been fully marked for the chairman. They were convincing us to buy a booklet at Sh50, 000 to be marked in my favour and be placed in the Finance ballot box,” said Ms Muchiri.

She added that when she met the lead commissioner and told him that she had filed a petition challenging the elections, he told her not to waste her time as the ballot papers had been removed from the boxes.

The elections were held Friday where students were electing officials to 27 positions ranging from chairman to congress men.

Tension is building at the institution with a section of students threatening to withdraw membership from the union unless it is disbanded.

The students union was created in 1982 and has produced national leaders like Senator James Orengo and MP Kabando wa Kabando.