NASA MP Thrown Out of Petition Challenging His Victory for Submitting Fake Document in Court

The Siaya High Court has blocked Ugenya MP Chris Karan of ODM from being part of the election petition contesting his August 8th victory, for presenting a doctored document in court.

Mr Karan, who is listed as the third respondent in a petition filed by former MP David Ochieng, had filed his response to the petition after the deadline for responding had elapsed.

He cited falling sick while in Mombasa as the reason for filing his response beyond the deadline, but the court established the medical letter he presented as evidence of his illness was a forgery.

The MP had tabled a letter from Alfarooq Hospital in Mombasa as confirming he had been admitted at the center with fever and vomiting. The letter indicated he was diagnosed with dengue fever.

However, Daniel Achach, the lawyer representing Ochieng, said the letter was doctored and the hospital disowned it.The facility's director Dr Salauhddin Farooqui said their computerized patient registration system could not identify Karan’s name.

“We hereby confirm that the above referred Christopher Odhiambo Karan was not admitted in our health facility. Attached letter presented by him was not issued from our facility,” said Mr Farooqui in the letter.

In his ruling to determine whether to allow the late response by Karan, Kisumu High Court judge Tripsisa Cherere struck out all documents presented by the MP, meaning he will not be allowed to defend his victory.

“The respondent (Mr Karan) had used a fake document to advance his case,” said Justice Cherere.

The petitioner, David Ochieng, run on a Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) ticket for the Ugenya parliamentary seat in the Agust 8th general election. He garnered 23,418 votes to Karan's 23,765 votes - a difference of 347 votes. He has challenged Karan's win, citing electoral malpractises.

The case is set to resume on December 4.