Okoa Kenya team begins to count signatures

The Okoa Kenya referendum team has started tallying the number of signatures it has collected.

The team of experts leader Paul Mwangi on Tuesday said it was not possible to tell if they had the one million signatures required to submit a petition to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for approval.

Mr Mwangi said their headquarters and regional offices were in the process of verifying the signatures.

“The people collecting the signatures say we have hit the one-million mark but I can’t confirm that because they have not been verified,” said the lawyer.

FIVE ISSUES

Okoa Kenya campaign leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula have said they will raise more than one million signatures to show the resolve of Kenyans in amending sections of the Constitution.

Mr Mwangi said the team would not wait for the collection of more than a million signatures to submit the petition to the electoral commission.

“Once the commission confirms that they are genuine, it will be required to submit a motion to all county assemblies for debate,” he said.

This has to be done within three months.

The three Cord leaders launched the collection of signatures last month.

Mr Mwangi and his team had identified five issues which require to be tackled immediately.

They are devolution, land reforms, electoral reforms, inclusivity and strengthening of public institutions and constitutional commissions.