Former Lamu Governor Issa Timamy at a past function. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
Former Lamu Governor Issa Timamy has moved to court seeking to have the county’s gubernatorial votes recounted.Timamy has argued that he won the election only to be denied victory by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Timamy, who lost to Jubilee’s Fahim Twaha, told the court that the exercise was marred by all sorts of illegalities and irregularities.In a sworn affidavit, through his lawyer Abubakar Yusuf, Timamy argued that according to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) results, Twaha won by a narrow margin.Twaha garnered 22,972 votes against Timamy’s 22,420.The Amani National Congress (ANC) politician argued that the court has the jurisdiction to call for vote recount in the event of a small margin.Appearing before Justice Dorah Chepkwony in Malindi on Thursday, Yusuf said that his client (Timamy) has proven beyond doubt that the exercise does not reflect the will of the residents of Lamu. “In order to verify there was no assistance given, no bias, officials were neutral and impartial, this court should order scrutiny of the votes to verify validity,” said Yusuf.He also claimed that election officials in the county swapped their roles.The former governor also alleged that pre-marked ballot papers were discovered by ANC’s chief agent Salim Mohamed.The court heard that police arrested a clerk in Kizingitini, Lamu East after allowing them to take part in the exercise without using the KIEMS kit. He also said Lamu East returning officer used form 36 B to declare results instead of Form 37 B, which is against the Election Laws, The Star has reported.