National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has opposed an application to open the ballot boxes used in the Garissa Township parliamentary election.
Duale on Tuesday asked an election petition court to dismiss the application by his challenger, Farah Maalim, that seeks to compel the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to release election materials from the August polls.
The Garissa Township MP's lawyer, Ahmednassir Abdullahi argued that Maalim's application was premature urging the court to throw it out on the basis that all election materials for the polls were in the safe custody of the IEBC.
Issa Mansour, the lawyer representing the IEBC noted that the petitioner, Mr Maalim, did not write a formal letter requesting the information within 28 days of the declaration of Duale's victory.
[caption caption="Farah Maalim speaks after filing his petition"]
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Maalim, the former National Assembly deputy Speaker, had filed a petition that seeks to overturn Duale's win on grounds that the election in Garissa was flawed.
He wants the court to order the IEBC to avail all voting material including the voter register, counterfoils for all the polling stations, electronic devices and all equipment used in the August election for scrutiny.
Justice Hedwig Ong'undi has allowed Maalim to file additional affidavits in the case.
The former deputy Speaker wants the court to find that Duale and the electoral body jointly committed election irregularities and order a fresh Parliamentary election in Garissa township.
Maalim ran for the seat on a Wiper Democratic Movement ticket but lost to Jubilee Party's Duale.
[caption caption="Aden Duale receiving his election certificate from IEBC officials"]
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He has claimed at various National Super Alliance (NASA) rallies that Duale's victory was 'computer-generated'.
NASA had alleged that there were no elections in North Eastern Kenya, claiming state officers had been used to rig in a number of areas.
