Kinoti reveals 10 counties where seized poll stickers were to be used

Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti on Friday accused three Venezuelans of having sneaked election material into the country.

The three were identified as Jose Gregorio Camargo Castellanos, Joel Gustavo Rodriguez Garcia and Salvador Javier Sosa Suarez.

They were arrested on Thursday, and upon search, they were found in possession of poll materials which were later confiscated by the police.

Carmago was first detained at the airport upon touching down on July 21, 2022, after security officers detected questionable luggage in his possession.

The bag contained 17 rolls of stickers targeted to serve various polling stations estimated to be 10,000 in number targeted to serve 10 counties.

The counties are Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Meru, Machakos, Murang'a, Bomet, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua and Kericho.

Apart from the stickers, he was also found in possession of a personal laptop, a personal monitor, five flash discs, one mobile phone and assorted personal computer accessories.

"The officers having established that the rolls were allegedly the property of IEBC of the Republic of Kenya arrested the suspect and confiscated the stated rolls and went ahead to inquire from the suspect Jose Gregorio Camargo Castellanos how he came into possession of the same.

"The suspect confessed that he was given the materials from Panama by his company M/S Smartmatic International Holding B.V," read part of the statement.

But Kinoti said the material was destined for a private office in Nairobi and not in IEBC offices.

"It is also clear from the invitation letters annexed herein above that the said Camargo Castellanos Jose Gregorio together with his two counterparts were to report to Abdulahi Abdi Mohamed's office at Nairobi and not at IEBC warehouse nor IEBC offices."

Kinoti said, from the aforesaid invitation letters, it is clear that the three foreigners were in Kenya solely for business with Abdulahi Abdi Mohamed, who is also not an employee of IEBC.

But IEBC chairman has maintained the three were employees of the IT firm and urged DCI to hand over the election materials.