Times Of Swaziland: MYEZA WANTS KHUBUTA  MP’S ELECTION NULLIFIED

MYEZA WANTS KHUBUTA  MP’S ELECTION NULLIFIED
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 BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 15/10/2013 04:49:00


MBABANE – Convicted Khubuta former Member of Parliament Charles Myeza wants
the election of Njabulo Mabuza as MP of the area declared null and void.
Myeza is currently serving a five-year sentence after he was found guilty of
defrauding the State of over E600 000.
His lawyer has since filed an urgent application at the High Court and the
matter will be heard on November 1, 2013.
In his application Myeza is seeking an order directing the Elections and
Boundaries Commission (EBC) to conduct a verification count of all ballot papers
casted at Khubuta on September 20, 2013.
Respondents are Khubuta MP-elect Mabuza, the Chairman of the EBC, the
Commissioner of His Majesty’s Correctional Services and the Attorney General.
“On September 20, 2013, the day of the elections, I was taken from Sidwashini
Correctional facility and driven to KaPhunga polling station. I found that
voting was already underway. I was allowed to cast my vote.”
He submitted that the other candidates who were competing against him were free
to visit all other polling stations thus gaining unfair advantage over him
because they were visible to the electorate.
Myeza stated that due to the fact that the court order allowing his
participation in the election was issued at 4pm on September 19, 2013 he sent
his agent to go and monitor all the polling stations.
He alleged that the people he had sent reported a number of anomalies and he was
able to observe some of them at the KaPhunga polling station.
These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose merits are still to be
tested in court and the respondents are yet to file their responding papers.
Myeza alleged that at KaPhunga polling station there was no ink sensor, a
machine that was used to determine if a person had already voted at this or
other polling station.
“The sensor was only brought to the polling station after lunch and it was
found to have a malfunctioning battery as it was not charged. This resulted in
the election officers not being certain whether or not any person was voting for
the second time on the day.
He mentioned that several people who did not belong to the constituency were
spotted during the election day.
“I may not have the precise figures of how may people may have been involved
in the malpractice but I have been advised and verily believe that the absence
of the machine cast enough doubt about the credibility of the outcome of the
votes.”