The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has opened investigations into the authenticity of the files Azimio la Umoja released on January 18 to support claims that the opposition alliance emerged victorious in the August 9, 2022, presidential election.
The Raila-led coalition had for the last two weeks been calling for the resignation of President William Ruto claiming that he did not win the elections. According to Azimio, Raila won the polls after garnering 8,170,355 votes ahead of President William Ruto who reportedly managed 5,919,973 votes.
The DCI has in a letter addressed to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said that the investigations agency had received complaints of the alleged fake forms.
“The Directorate has received numerous correspondences and complaints relating to information circulating across diverse online which is attributed to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Our attention has also been drawn to various documents alleged to be the “official” election results of the Presidential elections held on 9th August 2022,” the letter by DCI boss Mohammed Amin says.
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“For purposes of lawful processing of the complaints referred above in line with our mandate, we hereby request that you furnish us with the certified copies of forms 34B that were used to tally, verify and declare the results of the presidential elections of 9th August 2022.”
Amin said the complainants whom he did not reveal insist that there are various manipulations in the documents. He added that the forms alleged to have come from the electoral commission have inconsistencies.
“The Directorate is investigating the validity and authenticity of the documents in question, in addition to whether offences relating to forgery and falsification of documents have been committed under Sections 345-348 of the Penal Code. Further, the Directorate will undertake investigations in relation to provisions of sections 22 and 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018,” the DCI said.
It is not clear whether Raila has been informed of the investigations or whether he will be called to record a statement about his claims. During a rally at Kamukunji grounds in Nairobi on Monday, Raila repeated the claim that the election was rigged, and vowed resistance against President Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza government.