Candidates told to deal with claims in court

By HELEN TARAWA
Northern election manager Peter Malaifeope says disgruntled candidates who are challenging the progress of counting will have to prove their allegations of tampering and irregularities with hard evidence at the Court of Disputed Returns.
Commenting on the petition by candidates for the regional and the Ijivitari seats, Malaifeope told The National yesterday that without evidence, the candidates were only making themselves look foolish in the eyes of the public.
Malaifeope met the nine disgruntled candidates out of 32 in the race for the provincial seat and told them that counting would not be stopped to meet their demands.
“I will not accept any petition from any candidate and ask them to lodge their frustrations and complaints with the Court of Disputed Returns.
“Most of these frustrated candidates are learned people and knew the process of disputing election results as the election process is not completed yet,” Malaifeope said.
On Saturday, candidates from the Ijivitiari and Northern regional seats petitioned Malaifeope and provincial police commander Chief Inspector Lincoln Gerari at the provincial electoral office.
According to information from Popondetta, there were claims of tampering of ballot papers and boxes and irregularities in counting processes for both the regional and Ijivitari open seats allegedly by polling officials and members of the security forces.