‘There will be no election without manual register’: Raila tells IEBC

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga now says there will be no election unless the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) adopts both the manual and electronic voter register.

Odinga cited alleged plans by the Wafula Chebukati-led commission to interfere with the forthcoming election, hence insisting that both registers must be available.

The Azimio chief, who was addressing a rally in Githunguri during a charm offensive in Kiambu County on Wednesday, said the manual register in all polling stations is an irreducible minimum for his camp.

“With a manual register, it will be easy to tell how many people have voted in every polling station. In the electronic register, there is no record that remains,” said Odinga.

“That is why we’re saying that there must be a manual register at every polling station, it is not negotiable. We’re telling the IEBC they must have a manual register along with the biometric identification of voters on that day; failure to which, there will be no election.”

Odinga said he has sufficient and reliable information that there is a plot to print excess pre-marked ballot papers in a neighboring country then sneak them in on election day.

The Azimio leader and his running mate Martha Karua pleaded with electorates to give them a mandate to run the country after President Uhuru Kenyatta's retirement in August.

Karua, on her part, said the Azimio government - if elected - will stand for the right of everyone but strict on misdoings specifically on graft.