ACK calls for elections audit
Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit. He has called for an audit of the just concluded electoral process. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit wants an independent body formed to audit the entire electoral process in the country to address future electoral disputes.
Mr Sapit’s call comes after National Super Alliance (Nasa) presidential candidate Raila Odinga disputed the results following the Friday announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win.
He said the audit should inform future reforms that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would want to make, including voter register and procurement of ballot papers.
TENSION
“As a country we must take seriously the audit, review and reforms needed to take the country forward. This is the only way Kenya can normalise elections so that electionT times do not become a season of killings, tension, and anxiety and near shut shutdown of the economy,” Mr Sapit, who was accompanied by the Church bishops spoke Tuesday at ACK offices in Nairobi.
Mr Odinga, his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetang’ula and Mr Isaac Ruto have rejected the results declared by the IEBC.
Mr Sapit noted that the 2013 audit did not yield much needed reforms because major stakeholders, like political parties, were left out.
JUDICIARY
On the way forward regarding the rejection of poll outcome by Nasa, the ACK head called for sobriety, urging those not happy with the outcome to file their disputes in court even as he admitted that Mr Odinga had personally told him that he will not seek redress in court.
“We talked to Mr Odinga of Friday over the possibility of exploring the court avenue but he maintained that he will not be heading there. The Judiciary provides the guidance on all matters pertaining to the rule of law," he said.
The Archbishop said the Church is committed to facilitating reconciliation, integration and cohesion even as he condemned the use of brutal force by the government security agencies in quelling violence in Nairobi’s Kibra, Mathare and Kawangware areas and also in Kisumu, Siaya and Homa Bay in Nyanza region.
