A dead teacher was once declared the winner of a parliamentary seat in Nyeri.
During the 1988 elections, Mukora Muthiora, who had died a few months prior to the elections beat then Assistant Minister for Cooperative Development Njenga Karume for the Kiambaa parliamentary seat.
At the time, party elections were held through Mlolongo system where voters queued behind photos of their preferred candidates.
Upon counting of votes, District Commissioner Victor Musoga, who was the returning officer, named the dead teacher as the winner to the surprise of many.
In an effort to cover up the presumed mischief by the government, a resident who shared the name Muthiora was photographed by newspapers and the government broadcaster, Voice of Kenya (now KBC radio) portrayed him as the winner.
According to political pundits, some powerful government individuals had planned to humiliate then-political heavyweight Njenga Karume by having him defeated by a newcomer.
The man's attempts to clarify the matter were met with contempt as he was arrested and threatened by powerful individuals in the KANU government to keep the information secret.
However, it was then vice-president Mwai Kibaki who made the discovery that the winner of the election was actually dead.
“Even rigging requires some intelligence!” Kibaki was quoted by The Standard at that time.
When the returning officer was reading the winners’ list in Nyeri, Kibaki pointed out that Mr Muthiora had actually passed away in the previous November.
