Polls agency denies seeking date change
What you need to know:
- The Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission Chief Executive Ezra Chiloba said they have not asked for a change in the elections date.
- Mr Chiloba said the commission may only fail to conduct elections if a new commission is not put in place in good time.
- Mandera East MP Abdiaziz Farah, who was said to have been the sponsor of the Bill to change the polls date, said he is not involved in the development of such a proposal.
The electoral commission on Tuesday said it is ready to conduct elections on August 8 next year.
The Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission Chief Executive Ezra Chiloba said they have not asked for a change in the elections date.
He denied that the commission wants a time change due to procurement hiccups caused by strict deadlines. “We have not asked for an extension of the elections date. We are working to ensure the constitutional requirement that Kenyans go to the polls on August 8, 2017 is achieved,” he said.
Mr Chiloba said the commission may only fail to conduct elections if a new commission is not put in place in good time.
However, the deadline for submission of applications for those seeking appointment to the commission expired on Monday and work on the shortlist is expected to start from Thursday.
“Kenyans should know that we are working and preparing for the elections. We can only ask for an extension if commissioners are not there,” Mr Chiloba said.
WORK IN PROGRESS
He said that serious work was in progress that the only request his office made was a review of some deadlines created by the new law.
Mr Chiloba said that procurement for election equipment and materials had started. He added that there should be no fear over the polls date.
At the same time, Mandera East MP Abdiaziz Farah, who was said to have been the sponsor of the Bill to change the polls date, told the Nation he is not involved in the development of such a proposal. But some MPs, who did not want to be quoted, said they will support to extend the date.
“There is no iota of truth in it. I have no idea. I just found it in the newspaper today. I’m not even aware of anything,” said Mr Farah.
All seven Mandera legislators are from the Jubilee Coalition and insist the elections should be held on August 8 as scheduled and it would take a bold one of them to come up with a Bill against the wishes of the coalition’s principals.
But some MPs who did not want to be quoted said they will support any move to extend the election date in order to give IEBC enough time to prepare well to ensure the high staked poll is not undermined by poor preparations.
