Duale lashes out at electoral commission chairman-nominee's critics

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale on Sunday told off those questioning the nomination of Wafula Chebukati as IEBC chairman.

Mr Duale, also the Garissa Township MP, at the same time lashed out at those raising concerns that Mr Chebukati and IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba are from the same community.

Addressing the media in Garissa Town, Mr Duale said the Constitution doesn’t discriminate against any Kenyan on the basis of where they come from, adding that both the CEO and Mr Chebukati were nominated in a fair process.

“CEO Chiloba applied for the job and was recruited in a very fair, transparent, competitive and vigorous process and so is the current nominee for IEBC chair.

'ETHNIC POLITICS'

"Those now raising concerns on where they come from are the ones who believe in ethnic politics. Ours is by merit and not where one comes from,” said the Jubilee MP.

Mr Duale said once the Speaker of the National Assembly receives the names from the President next week, he will submit them to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee for vetting and approval.

Meanwhile, two ODM lawmakers on Sunday said there was a need to explore avenues for an electronic backup as opposed to a manual system in the General Election to ensure the 2017 polls are credible.

Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda and his Nyakach counterpart Aduma Owuor said Jubilee MPs' move to alter election laws was ill-intended and meant to rig the coming elections.

Speaking during a funeral in Nyando, Kisumu County, Mr Ochanda said the election system should emulate the backup used by banks “and not manual, which is likely to be manipulated”.

IDENTIFY VOTERS MANUALLY

Mr Owuor said the manner in which the amendments were approved was illegal as it ought to have first gone through the Senate.

“We hope Jubilee will listen to the demands by [the] majority of Kenyans and ensure the changes are amended as they are a recipe for chaos in this country,” he said.

He said it was wrong to identify voters manually as that would provide room for "dead" voters to cast their votes.

“The manual details could be generated from electronic data to avoid rigging,” Mr Ochanda said.

He accused Jubilee of having bad intentions with the coming elections, saying that is why the majority in Parliament rushed to amend election laws.

'MATURE' SENATE DEBATE

The Bill passed by Jubilee MPs last year reinstated the provisions for manual identification of voters in case the electronic system fails.

The House also adopted a proposal for manual transmission of results, which the opposition has vehemently opposed.

The Senate Legal Affairs Committee is racing against time to take the views of as many stakeholders as it can before the January 4 deadline to hand over its report to the Senate over the changes made to the Election Law (Amendment) Bill.

On Tuesday, the committee is expected to meet with the Attorney-General, the Council of Governors, and the Coalition for Credible Polls 2017, the Media Owners Association, the Civil Society Reference Group, and the Computer Society of Kenya.

The Senate's role in debating the Bill has been lauded as mature and sober as a result of meticulous prior planning.

Following the acrimonious session in the National Assembly, senators decided to take the high road and rewrite the script.