Speaking in Limuru where he met a number of religious leaders at a stakeholders’ forum Monday, Chebukati maintained that only IEBC was constitutionally mandated to announce poll results/FILE
LIMURU, Kenya, Apr 3 – A plan by the National Supper Alliance (NASA) to establish a parallel election results tallying centre is illegal, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati has said.
Speaking in Limuru where he met a number of religious leaders at a stakeholders’ forum Monday, Chebukati maintained that only IEBC was constitutionally mandated to announce poll results.
“We shall work with other State agencies to maintain law and order. If someone announces results which are not correct then that is a recipe for chaos and we do not want that to happen as a country,” cautioned Chebukati.
“I believe if that happens, the law will take its course,” he added.
Chebukati’s comments come a day after Opposition leader Raila Odinga announced plans to establish a parallel results tally centre.
Odinga who has constantly alleged that the 2013 election was rigged in favour of the ruling party, claimed that the Elections Laws Amendment Act of 2016 provided for announcement of results at three levels – the polling station, constituency and national – urging supporters to ‘adopt’ a polling station to ensure that happens.
“You have registered enough. What we want is that in all polling stations we have committees of 50 youths each then they communicate to us through video conferencing and keep us posted on who has voted and who has not,” he said at a political rally held in Kibra on Sunday.
Chebukati also disclosed that currently training 85,000 police officers on crowd management to ensure they are well equipped to manage crowds during the August 8th elections.
“We’re going to participate in training 85,000 police officers so that they understand election laws and they know how to manage crowds,” he said.
He assured that the commission was going to ensure the election results are manage in a transparent and accountable manner saying a framework for results management was already in place.
IEBC also intends to conduct a trial exercise of the election management systems to ensure a seamless and hitch free poll day according to Chebukati.
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