Oswago seeks to stop searches in his homes

Elections boss James Oswago has moved to court to stop further raids on his homes, accusing the anti-graft watchdog of peddling “wild allegations of corruption” against him.

Mr Oswago, the chief executive of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, has asked the High Court in Nairobi to order Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to stop searching his homes and office.

He accuses the commission of violating his privacy and property rights, going against the rule of law and natural justice and violating “elementary standards of investigations.”

“The respondent (EACC) never contacted me either in an endeavour to inform me of the said wild allegations nor did they afford me an opportunity to be heard and respond to the same,” he says in his affidavit.

The commission already summoned him and he complied and gave information regarding the procurement of the Biometric Voter Registration kit and Electronic Voter Identification Devices used in the last polls, hence was not justified to search his residences, he argues.

Last week, EACC detectives raided his Nairobi and Siaya homes at night and searched for documents and information relating to the suspect procurement of the poll kits that failed during voting on March 4.

Lawyer Jotham Arwa, for Mr Oswago ,yesterday filed the suit under the certificate of urgency and presented the case before Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi.

He is seeking an order suspending a magistrate’s search warrant that the commission relied on to conduct the raids and searches. He also wants any further raids on his property halted until his petition against the anti-corruption commission is heard.

The Supreme Court recommended investigation for possible criminal prosecution of IEBC staff who may have been involved in malpractices during procurement of poll kits. Hearing is on Thursday.