IIEC faults use of civil servants in referendum campaigns

Kenya's electoral body has faulted the government move to use senior civil servants to campaign for the proposed constitution.

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) chairman Issack Hassan said it is wrong for permanent secretaries and other senior government officials to participate in the campaigns.

“As a commission we met and discussed the issue. We think senior civil servants should not be used in the process. They should instead continue doing what they are supposed to which is offering services to Kenyans across the board,” Mr Hassan said while fielding questions from journalists during a press conference by Agenda IV commissions.

Also at the conference at Delta House in Nairobi were Interim Independent Boundaries Commission chairman Andrew Ligale, Nzamba Kitonga (Committee of Experts), Mzalendo Kibunjia (National Cohesion and Integration Commission), Bethuel Kiplagat (Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission) and Dr Kibunjia’s vice, Mary Onyango.

Directive

Various PS and parastatal chiefs have been crisscrossing their home areas campaigning for ‘Yes’ ostensibly following a directive from Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura. The PSs had also met Prime Minister Raila Odinga two weeks ago.

The No team led by Higher Education minister William Ruto and former President Moi have raised concerns over the use of the top civil servants in the campaigns saying it amounted to politicising the public service and encouraging tribalism.

Mr Hassan said his commission will write to Mr Muthaura to “inform him accordingly".

“We will also engage the Yes and referendum committees."

The chairman cautioned that the use of top civil servants in the campaigns could be used to challenge the referendum results in court after the polls.

He announced that his commission is ready for the referendum and that it would soon start training referendum committees following release of Sh240 million from Treasury.

He dismissed claims by the No team that there were plans to rig the polls saying his team is committed to a free and fair referendum.

“We have put in place all necessary procedures,” Mr Hassan said.

Mr Hassan and Mr Kiplagat added that the claims were not fair to the referendum process saying the No side should, instead, channel any complaints to IIEC for action instead of issuing blanket statements.

“Lets not create atmosphere that the vote will be rigged as this will discourage people from coming to vote. Our appeal is that everybody who has registered should vote,” Mr Kiplagat said.

At the same time, the boundaries commission said the new districts President Kibaki created Wednesday while on the campaign trail in Garissa were illegal.

Recognise 47 districts

Chairman Andrew Ligale said “pronouncements by the President of new districts as people clapped is not going to make them legal".

Mr Ligale said although there were about 280 districts, the constitution only recognises 47 that have been ratified by Parliament.

“We have noticed people are keen on them but until Parliament ratifies them, they are non-entities,” he said.

He said the creation of the administrative areas would not interfere with his commission’s work.

The commissioners condemned emerging violence in the campaigns and called for a peaceful referendum.

They specifically mentioned the confrontation between No and Yes supporters in Suswa on Wednesday, Kitui and Kerugoya.

They promised government vigilance as the vote draws near and called for politicians to tone down their rhetoric.

“We note that some promising leaders in both the Yes and No camps are not exercising restraint when on the platform and have ended up making quite outrageous, if not criminal, pronouncements,” said Mr Hassan who read a statement on behalf of the commissions.

The commissioners further urged Kenyans to turn up in large numbers and vote on August 4 whether they supported the proposed constitution or not.

Dr Kibunjia said only 30 percent of the country could experience problems related to violence and cited those in Rift Valley as Kuresoi and Kericho where tea plantation workers are affected.

“The most critical for them is fear of displacement,” he said, adding that an action plan involving his commission, the criminal investigation department and police was in place to address the fears.

Asked why NCIC had not taken action on former President Moi and other leaders both in Yes and No camps said to have issued inflammatory remarks that could spark violence, Dr Kibunjia said: “We have to go through evidence to ensure it meets the threshold of the law.”

“We don’t prosecute people just because we don’t like them,” Dr Kibunjia said.

The commissioners urged both No and Yes teams to accept the outcome of the referendum and that those dissatisfied should go to court.

“Given the post election violence this country witnessed hardly three years ago, we appeal to Kenyans to use this referendum as an opportunity to prove to the world that we have the capacity to put the worst part of our history behind us and move forward to a future of tolerance, peaceful co-existence and respect for each other’s opinion,” the commissioners said in a statement.