Cord threatens to go to court over Okoa Kenya referendum signature hitch

Mr Austine Makamu, the self-proclaimed Western Kenya Okoa Kenya director expresses his disappointment after the IEBC rejected nearly half of the signatures Cord submitted in a push to change the Constitution. Cord leaders have now threatened to go to court over the dispute. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • They claimed that the commission had been compromised and called it “scandalous.”
  • The Cord leaders said that the IEBC was not ready for the referendum and thus “cooked” excuses.
  • They said the Okoa Kenya secretariat would later give a comprehensive statement on the way forward.

The Opposition Cord now threatens to go to court following the collapse of the Okoa Kenya referendum campaigns after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared that the valid voters’ signatures presented did not reach the one million threshold.

Addressing journalists in Nairobi on Wednesday, Cord principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula accused the IEBC of being a Jubilee puppet.

They claimed that the commission had been compromised and called it “scandalous,” adding that it could not be trusted to handle any elections in the country.

“Our options are not limited. This is the real start of [the] struggle to liberate this country,” said Mr Musyoka.

The Cord leaders said the IEBC was not ready for the referendum and thus “cooked” excuses.

They said the Okoa Kenya secretariat would later give a comprehensive statement on the way forward following the rejection of the signatures presented to the IEBC.