Azimio writes to IEBC seeking voter register, polling station locations
With 41 days left until Kenyans go to the
polls to elect President Uhuru Kenyatta’s successor, IEBC continues to
streamline the election preparation process.
The commission, in what it says is
maintaining an open door policy, is set to hold a consultative meeting with the
four presidential candidates; Kenya Kwanza’s William Ruto, Azimio’s Raila
Odinga, Waihiga Mwaure of the Agano party and Prof. George Wajackoya of the Roots
party.
The agenda of the meeting according to IEBC:
the recently audited voter register, the elections transmission process, and the
candidates campaign schedules.
IEBC is keen on ensuring the presidential
candidates are satisfied with the processes.
Ahead of that meeting, Azimio - through Odinga’s
chief legal advisor Paul Mwangi - is demanding answers on issues it says the
commission has not addressed and has written a letter on the same.
“There is a very
slow response at answering questions that have been asked, we are not getting
as much information as we have gotten in previous elections. The Chairman, last
time when he held a media briefing, said they had identified people that tried
to sabotage the system and he promised that he was going to reveal who they
were and what action they had taken, till now those questions have not been
answered we do not know where the printing is taking place,” said Mwangi.
Key in Azimio’s fears is IEBC’s acknowledgement
of interference with the voter register where illegal transfer of voters in 12
counties was flagged.
Azimio is seeking to know what action had
been taken on the 3 IEBC officials found culpable and whether the transfers had
been reversed.
Alongside this is IEBC’s insistence on
exclusive use of electronic voter identification without a complementary manual
voter register.
“Due concerns that
arise about this is that in 2013 technology failed entirely, so it is conceivable
that technology can fail. In this election we already have the first incident
of sabotage, we are told that somebody did manage to enter the system and transfer
almost a million voters into different locations…so it is very conceivable that
one can sabotage that technology, and the problem is if you sabotage the
technology, then on that day it means that some polling stations will simply
not operate because they will not have a physical register and any working
machines,” stated lawyer Mwangi.
Azimio is asking for a certified copy of the
voters' roll to be used in the August polls containing the names and ID numbers
of voters in each ward.
The coalition wants a list of all the polling
stations, their geo reference and details of the connectivity to either 3G or
4G network.
“We have raised
some of these issues even in previous petitions…that we were told that there would
be so many polling stations but you end up not knowing where the polling
stations are. So it is important that if there is a polling station, it must
have a name and a geo location so that you know that it actually physically
exists,” added Mwangi.
Azimio seeks answers on the number of KIEMS kits
to be used and their serial numbers, the deployment ratio per polling station
and their state of functionality.
Lawyer Mwangi says they find it odd that IEBC
is yet to allow the players to visit the country and company printing the
ballot papers since they sought to find out the design and security features of
the papers and other forms used in the election and also the logistical issues
on transportation and storage of crucial electoral materials.
“If something is
wrong we don’t know if there will be sufficient time to mend it, and that is
why it is important to receive all this information now so that if there are
things to complain about then they can be complained about earlier, and if
there are issues that need to be rectified then there is time enough to
rectify,” he stated.
Azimio hopes the Wednesday meeting will
address the issues raised and boost their confidence in the commission to carry
out a free, fair and credible election.
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