Dado protests results showing opponent Dhadho leading in in governor’s race
Former Tana River Governor Hussein Dado, who is seeking to recapture the seat, has disputed the results of the election.
Speaking to journalists in Hola, Mr Dado decried what he called a lack of transparency, accusing IEBC officials rigging the elections in favour of incumbent Dhadho Godhana.
According to the official tally released by IEBC, Mr Godhana of ODM won with 26,892 against Mr Dado's 26,633 votes.
"This is unfair. The margin is very narrow and we are certain that these results do not reflect the will of the people of Tana River," he said.
He said he had raised complaints regarding the process but his concerns were not addressed.
Mr Dado who vied on a UDA ticket claims that two ballot boxes were tampered with in Garsen constituency, saying that this raised doubts about the credibility of the polls.
"I went there and insisted that the ballot boxes be counted because it is against the law to deliver unsealed ballot boxes to the tallying centre," he said.
He also said that his appeal to have the Bura results re-tallied was ignored by the returning officer, hence the need to have the process reviewed.
Mr Dado claimed the IEBC gave different results from what his team had tallied. He said that whereas figures in Galole showed that he has about 8,000 votes, his tally shows 10,000.
He claimed more than 2,000 votes were taken from him in Bura.
"We asked for form 37, which they denied us. There is foul play that we are not going to accept. We must make everything transparent and fair," he said.
But Returning Officer Yonah Ogalo dismissed the rigging claims, noting that the gap may be small but numbers don't lie.
Mr Ogalo noted that the former governor started pulling theatrics earlier at the constituency tallying centres to intimidate IEBC officers in vain.
"He said the two ballot boxes in Garsen were his and were valid. We counted [the votes] in his presence and the presence of chief agents. It emerged he won in both boxes. We added to his tally. Now he is emerging with other issues," he said.
Mr Ogalo said Mr Dado's chief agents went missing when they were required to sign the forms and they were not available to receive the forms.
He said the agents had started setting the stage for disputing results earlier.
"Our work is to tally what we have received from polling stations. If that goes against the expectations of an individual, it is not in our capacity to solve it," he said.
He urged the former governor to go to court if he is disgruntled.
Meanwhile, other candidates have conceded defeat and congratulated Governor Godhana for his victory, urging him to serve residents without bias.
