This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
On September 21, 2019, a Kibra voter and Jubilee Party member, Leina Konchella, filed a petition at the High Court to stop the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from including Oburu Odinga's brother, Emmanuel Mariga, on the Kibra by-election ballot papers.
According to the court papers, Konchella claims that the IEBC bosses irregularly cleared Mariga and turned a blind eye to irregularities in his papers. She has asked the High Court to stop the IEBC from printing ballot papers for the poll scheduled for November 7 until her petition is heard and determined.
Mariga was cleared to contest by IEBC Commissioners Wafula Chebukati, Boya Molu, and Abdi Guliye, despite being initially blocked by Kibra Returning Officer Beatrice Muli.
Konchella's petition is based on two main issues: first, that Mariga is not a duly registered voter, and second, he has questionable integrity that effectively bars him from the electoral contest.
She argues that Mariga registered as a voter long after the IEBC had suspended voter registration in Kibra and that his voter register is not legitimate for purposes of nomination and election, as it has not been certified and gazetted since 2017.
Konchella also claims that there is a possibility that either Mariga's identity card or academic documents are forgeries, citing discrepancies in his birthdate and academic records.
Mariga's ID indicates that he was born in April 1987, but his KCSE exam papers show that he sat the exams in 2002, meaning he completed high school at the age of 15.
