Nasa protests transfer of returning officers

Nasa co-principal Musalia Mudavadi addresses supporters at Bomas of Kenya on April 20, 2017. The coalition has protested the criteria IEBC used in posting returning officers. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi alleged bias, ethnic profiling and planned rigging of elections.
  • Suna East MP Junet Mohammed termed the reshuffle skewed and claimed that the electoral team had ulterior motive.

The reshuffle of county returning officers by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has caused an uproar from the Opposition.

Nasa has termed the move a grand scheme by the commission to rig the forthcoming General Election.

In the changes made last week, the electoral commission also scrapped the position of regional coordinators and instead appointed 47 county managers.

In the changes, all the 290 constituencies have new returning officers.

REVOKE DEPLOYMENT

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, the coalition's co-principal, alleged bias, ethnic profiling and planned rigging of elections.

“We reject those postings not because we are against the officers but want to protect their integrity against negative perceptions their posting has generated to the effect that they are an advance team to steal the August elections.

"We, therefore, ask IEBC to revoke the postings,” Mr Mudavadi said.

In a statement to newsrooms, he said the returning officers were key in the management, transparency and creditability of elections and, therefore, their appointment and deployment must be without ethnic or other blemish.

“The Constitution demands the exercise of equal opportunity for all Kenyans.

"Any Kenyan should serve anywhere in Kenya, and not be discriminated against on the basis of creed and ethnic origin. Reverse discrimination is also abhorred,” Mr Mudavadi said.

CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY
He added: “We in Nasa are, therefore, unable to discern the criteria and logic of IEBC posting members of only one community as returning officers to serve in certain electoral areas, especially the western region.”

Mr Mudavadi said IEBC is paying lip service to the tenets of ethnic integration in the workplace.

“Is IEBC telling Kenyans that only members of a single community could be found within its staff to qualify for posting to Western?

"Do they, for instance, have better geopolitical and linguistic knowledge of the region than any other officers within IEBC?,” the ANC party leader asked.

Suna East MP Junet Mohamed termed the reshuffle skewed and claimed that the electoral team had ulterior motive by effecting the changes.

“We want IEBC to be very transparent about this matter of county returning officers because it is not the commissioners sitting in Nairobi who will be overseeing the elections but the officers on the ground,” Mr Mohamed said.

“From the names of the returning officers, it is clear that IEBC already has a pre-determined result of the forthcoming elections,” said the MP. “This issue is very serious and as Opposition, we are reading ill motive.”

CODE OF CONDUCT
However, in a quick rejoinder, the commission’s CEO Ezra Chiloba said there was nothing sinister in the transfers.

“We were guided by the principle that returning officers should not serve in their home areas.

"However, we ensured that we don’t take people too far from their homes. That explains why you see officers from certain communities in particular areas.

"At the end of the day, they are under a code of conduct to deliver impartial results,” Mr Chiloba told Daily Nation.

In a letter to all the officers dated May 2, the CEO said they followed a criteria approved by the commission.

“All county managers and returning officers shall report to their new stations not later than May 20,” reads part of the letter.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said the commission’s move amounted to a scheme to manipulate the outcome of the poll.

“What the IEBC has done is unacceptable and we are asking the chair Mr Wafula Chebukati and his team to listen to our concerns and review the postings,” Dr Khalwale said.

RIGGED ELECTIONS
The senator, who was on a campaign trail in five constituencies of Lurambi, Mumias East, Mumias West, Butere and Khwisero, said the matter was of great concern and should be addressed urgently by the commission.

“We shall not accept the elections to be conducted with the election officials in Kakamega County coming from one community,” he said.

Dr Khalwale said the 2013 presidential results were rigged in favour of Jubilee after election officials and security officers from one region were posted to the Opposition strongholds.

Additional reporting by Shaban Makokha