The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, on Wednesday, June 29, told United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate, William Ruto, that he has no power to deal with electoral-related violence.
While responding to concerns raised by Ruto’s chief agent, Abraham Kithure Kindiki, Chebukati explained that the issue would have been dealt with why the IEBC Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee which was declared unconstitutional by the High Court.
He added that while the Commission fined and even disqualified candidates who violated the Code of Conduct ahead of the 2017 election, the earliest IEBC would be allowed to address the issues is in November 2022.
“The court made a judgement that the committee was unconstitutional. That then took away all the teeth the Commission had to fight any misconduct listed in the code of conduct.
“We filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal and attended a hearing yesterday (Tuesday, June 28), where the court declared that the judgment will be delivered on November 4, by then we will be done with the election,” Chebukati explained.
Chebukati pointed out that IEBC could only receive complaints from the candidates and political parties and forward them to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Noordin Haji, for action.
“We do not have powers to summon. When parties write to us, all we can do is forward them to the DPP and preach peace asking candidates to campaign peacefully.
“However, we shall continue engaging and press the DPP to prosecute. We shall issue statements as and when the events unfold,” added Chebukati.
Among the issues raised by presidential candidates during the meeting was the existence of a manual voter register that will be used in complimenting the KIEMS kits that will be used to identify voters at polling stations.
While Azimio called on IEBC to have a manual register for voters who may not be identified by the kits, Kenya Kwanza requested the electoral body to maintain the kits while addressing technological failures.
The Chebukati-led Commission further defended the handing of the ballot printing tender to Inform Lycos stating that it was a reputable company with a proven track record.
IEBC added that disclosed that the papers would be printed in Athens, Greece, with the backup site situated in Romania. It further invited candidates and their agents for a review of the printing process.
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