Cord uneasy about US polling centres

The government interfered with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) by advising it to establish certain polling stations in the United States, Cord senators said Thursday.

The senators Thursday termed the move as interfering with the independence of IEBC.
They said it was wrong for the government to give directions to the IEBC.

In a heated debate in the Senate yesterday, the lawmakers questioned the move to establish six consulates to facilitate voting in 2017, saying it went against the law establishing the electoral agency.

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula (Ford-Kenya) accused the ministry of Foreign Affairs of trying to predetermine the outcome of the next elections by skewing positioning of voting centres.

INTERFERE

“The ministry set up a taskforce to interfere with IEBC. Why is Jubilee interfering with the commission which should to do its work independently as outlined in the Constitution?” said Mr Wetangula.

This was after Legal Affairs Committee vice-chairman Stephen Sang (Nandi, URP) read a statement revealing the move by the government.
The senators raised the concerns when the House was informed a taskforce had been set up to look into the establishment of consulates.

“The positioning of polling stations has been used to rig elections in the past, we want to know why the government is interfering with the IEBC,” said Migori Senator Wilfred Machage (ODM).

Makueni’s Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Wiper) said: “If you decide America is where you want to do gerrymandering, you must first publish the countries where you are going to register voters and establish polling stations. The government should allow the IEBC to do its work as per the Constitution.”