Why ODM wants IEBC team disbanded

One of the reasons ODM is calling for electoral reforms is because the Independent Electoral and the Boundaries Commission (IEBC) did not release official results of the 2013 General Election allegedly because they did not tally them.

A letter the Nation has seen says: “To date, the IEBC has not released the official results of the last elections because figures do not tally. There is a variation between presidential votes and other positions. There is a variation of 1.2 million votes,  meaning that some people were given the presidential vote but never voted.”

However, the IEBC published the results in June 2014 and the document can be downloaded from its website (www.iebc.or.ke).

Also, the party says IEBC chairman Issack Hassan should not be allowed to oversee another General Election after he was accused in the ‘Chickengate scandal’.

Mr Hassan has denied any role the scandal although he has been questioned by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. 

Directors of the British printing firm Smith and Ouzman, are serving jail terms over the scandal, but no one in Kenya has charged.

ODM also questions results of the Kericho senatorial by-election held last March, saying it was rigged in favour of the Jubilee candidate.

But the IEBC has denied the claim, saying the by-election was free and fair.

The party has accused the IEBC of suspiciously halving its Okoa Kenya signatures, claiming they were not valid.

“It cannot be logical that 1.6 million signatures were reduced by half despite the fact we had verified and confirmed they were valid. The IEBC is a branch of Jubilee,” Cord said.

The coalition also accused  the IEBC of working with the Interior ministry to ensure those getting national identity cards are registered as voters in Central, Rift Valley and other Jubilee  strongholds.