Meeting on poll results called off

A meeting between electoral commission bosses and MPs aborted on Tuesday after House committee members asked for more time to study the General Election results they received last week.

Electoral officials led by chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan and chief executive James Oswago went to Parliament Buildings in Nairobi prepared to answer questions on the official results they released on Thursday only to be turned back.

Mr Samuel Chepkonga, who chairs the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, said members of his team needed more time to scrutinise the results.

The meeting was adjourned and the electoral officials were informed that it would be reconvened next week.

“Members have certain issues they consider as pertinent and crucial in the sharing of the political parties’ funds as required by law,” Mr Chepkonga said. Parties will share Sh205 million depending on how they performed in the elections.

But some members of the committee differed, saying there had been a disagreement within it on how to handle the next session.

The matter was brought before the committee following a question by Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa, who sought to know when the commission would release the official results.

The IEBC team first appeared on Thursday but the chairperson refused to take an oath before proceeding, insisting that he was on a Ramadhan fast.

He later said in an interview with NTV’s Weekend Edition show that the commissioners declined to take the oath because they had been accused of mischief and felt intimidated.

“We have appeared before parliamentary committees numerous times before and have never been asked to swear by oath,” said Mr Hassan.

He said he found it unusual to be asked to take an oath. But on Tuesday, he said his team was prepared to defend the final results on oath.

“We came ready to swear and answer any questions because the media has created an impression that we refused to swear,” he said.

There were claims within the parliamentary committee that some members had been summoned to State House and received instructions not to open the results for interrogation.

Some Cord MPs in the committee claimed the report was incomplete and that it had discrepancies.

Cord MPs have been meeting to analyse the results and plan on what line of questioning to take at the next meeting with the electoral officials.

“We want to know if all the commissioners agreed on the final tally,” said a member who asked not to be named. The report tabled last week was only signed by Mr Hassan and Mr Oswago.