NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 12 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) now says only returning officers, two presidential agents for the candidates will be allowed at the verification of presidential results at the national tallying centre.
This are part of measurement put in place by the poll commission to expedite the verification process and ensure decorum following delays and a bit of scuffle witnessed during the process.
The situation forced the IEBC commissioners to call for a meeting with the chief presidential agents of four presidential candidate as the tallying had been brought to a standstill.
“Nobody is allowed to access the floor of the auditorium apart from the people that I have described. Everyone else will seat at their respective marked areas,” commissioner Abdi Guliye said.
The poll agency insisted that they are working within a strict seven-day constitutional timeline which they maintained will not be derailed by the interest of presidential agents.
“We will not allow anybody including agents of political parties and agent to frustrate efforts to comply with the seven days deadline,” he said.
The results verification process at the national tallying center was brought to a standstill for a few minutes Friday afternoon following a disagreement between Azimio and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) agents over a strange computer device.
The poll agency has however pronounced itself on the matter by clarifying that presidential agents will be allowed to have laptops for verification.
Guliye elaborated that presidential agents will not be allowed to print physical form 34A and 34B but will monitor the results using the electronic devices.
“Presidential agents are allowed to have a laptop for purposes of counterchecking the results forms.Every agent will have one laptop per desk,”he said.
The IEBC commissioner dispelled information going round that the laptop machine was a strange device in the verification desk.
“There was nothing wrong with the laptop in the tallying centre floor. That type of misinformation and disinformation the commission doesn’t allow. We want those spreading those information to restrain themselves,” Guliye stated.
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