We can handle 2017 General Election, IEBC says

The polls agency has dismissed claims by Cord leaders that it is ill-prepared to handle next year’s General Election.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Tuesday said there was no crisis regarding voter registration kits, a day after Cord lawmakers said there was a ploy to under-supply opposition strongholds with the machines.

IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba said: “We don’t have a crisis concerning the number of registration kits. The challenge we have is adequate resources to do the work over a longer period and employ the necessary staff to do the work.”

The National Treasury allocated the commission Sh500 million for voter registration against a request of Sh2 billion.

Mr Chiloba termed as shocking utterances by opposition MPs that the commission was training intelligence officers to engage them as electoral officers. He warned that such statements were likely to polarise the country and create voter apathy.

“That is misinformation and it is unacceptable,” he said. “We feel it is one way of creating unnecessary tension in the political space and I don’t think we take that kindly.”

He spoke at the end of a two-day meeting between the commission and political parties at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha.

Among the issues discussed was the planned mass voter registration that starts next month and ends in March.

Cord MPs claimed on Monday that the commission was favouring Jubilee strongholds in the distribution of voter registration materials and equipment. They further claimed that the commission was ill-prepared for the extensive voter listing, and called for its postponement.

'ALARMIST COMMENTS'

But on Tuesday, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said the demand by Cord was a ploy to make the IEBC drop a case against Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula. The hearing on whether Mr Wetang’ula, a Cord leader, should be removed from the voter register opened in Nairobi on Tuesday.

“It is no coincidence that a hyperbolic, alarmist, unfounded and ill-conceived statement was released hours after a Cord co-principal, Senator Moses Wetang’ula, appeared before the IEBC, pursuant to orders of the Supreme Court arising out of the finding that Wetang’ula committed election offences,” Mr Duale said in a statement.

In Naivasha, Mr Chiloba said the statements made by ODM chairman John Mbadi and lawmakers Moses Kajwang’, Fred Outa and Eseli Simiyu were premature and ill-informed.

“We were a bit surprised,” he said. “It is true that they had raised some issues and wrote to us last week. We were preparing to respond. However, they went to the media before we could reply to their request.”

He said the commission was ready to share with the public all the relevant information regarding the planned voter registration for the sake of transparency.

“Yesterday, they raised an issue about voter registration, and that is what we were actually discussing at the retreat where they were represented,” said Mr Chiloba.

IEBC chairman Issack Hassan said it will not be necessary to extend the term of the commissioners.

In his view, the present polls team can conduct the 2017 General Election and deliver results and even manage a run-off within the time provided.

Additional reporting by Aggrey Mutambo and Jeremiah Kiplagat.