I never flaunted election laws, Governor Charity Ngilu testifies

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Kitui County Governor Charity Ngilu has testified that she never flaunted any election laws during the August 8General election.
While giving her testimony before Justice Pauline Nyamweya, the governor told the she is well versed with the election laws.
“I never flaunted any laws because we were well taken through the regulations,” said Ngilu.
Ngilu said she never intimidates any voter adding that the exercise was taking place on full glare of the media.
The Governor also told the court that the petitioner, who is the former Kitui Governor Julius Malombe that his supporters started supporting her because the love a leader who help them develop.
She said Malombe had a huge support in 2013 but they all left to support her in 2017.
“I have been in leadership for a long time and people know me and have seen perform. I was a Member of Parliament for 20 years,” she added.
Governor Ngilu told the court that the people voted for her even if she came from a NASA strong hold.
She said that the people were not going for a party this time but the candidate.

Narc not a NASA affiliate

The Governor told the court that her party is not and has never been part of NASA.
She said the NASA principals called her and to tell her they would like her to support their presidential candidate and she agreed.
“They only called me to request that I support their presidential candidate, which I did but we are not an affiliate,” Ngilu said.
Governor Ngilu added that she wrote a letter to the IEBC complaining that Malombe’s people were insinuating that I had stopped running for office and was supporting their candidate.
She said there were posters everywhere indicating that she was no longer vying for the governor seat but that of the senator.
“I had to hire youths to tear down the posters and announce in the vernacular stations that I had not withdrawn from the race,” said the Governor.

Election day campaign

When asked about the vehicle that had been spotted in one of the polling station with her poster on election day, she said that she was not the owner.
She said that the reason she went to the scene was not because she was the owner of the vehicle but to witness the allegations.
“By the time I got there, the vehicle was already being towed away,” said the Governor.
She told the court that she completed her campaigns on August 4th, four days before the election.
Ngilu further told the court that she did not know the owner of the vehicle.
It is against election laws to campaign or have posters in a polling station on the election day.
She also said that in her knowledge, no Wiper Party agent was ejected from the polling station.
Ngilu said that if agents left the stations, it was because they were not ‘ treated well’.
In the petition, Malombe wants Ngilu’s win nullified on grounds that the Kitui gubernatorial election was not free and fair.
He claims there was voter bribery, intimidation and violence.