NAIROBI, KENYA: An elections observer group has now thrown its weight behind the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that it is capable of conducting a free and fair contest on October 26 vote.
The African Electoral Observation Group, a consortium of International Accredited Elections Observers from across Africa, said preparations in most counties smooth promising a smooth, free, fair and credible election.
“It is in keeping with our electoral observation mandate for the August 8 election that we note that IEBC remains intact and capable of conducting a free, fair and credible election,” reads part of the report.
The group maintained that October 26 remains the only irreducible minimum for Kenya and that the commission remains ready and capable of holding a free, fair and credible election.
The Observer mission now wants Kenya to stick to the side of constitution, the rule of law and the integrity of its institutions.
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This is despite the Commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati admitting that he cannot guarantee a free, fair, credible and transparent election.
On Wednesday Chebukati at a press briefing casts doubt on the possibility of holding credible elections next week Thursday, blaming it on a sharply divided commission and a spine-chilling political class.
Chebukati asked both Jubilee and opposition coalition leaders to keep off the electoral agency staff, and told top secretariat managers who have been adversely linked to electoral malpractices to resign, to pave way for free, fair and credible elections.
National Super Alliance (NASA) brigade in one of their ‘irreducible minimum’ demanded that the Commission Secretary Ezra Chiloba, his deputy Betty Nyabuto, Voter Registration Director Immaculate Kassait, ICT Director James Muhati and Director Legal Service Praxedes Tororey who has since left the commission among others to step aside.
The Raila Odinga led coalition has also threatened to prosecute the individuals on private prosecution should the Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko fail to prosecute the said individuals.
However, the Elections Observer Group noted that Elections in Africa have become moments of vulnerability to violence, conflict and the near disintegration of states.
The group observed that Kenya cannot and should not allow the actions of its politicians, hell bent on causing mayhem, to subvert their fundamental political rights as enshrined in the bill of rights.
Instead, the group cautioned that IEBC should not be maligned and punished for the actions of politicians.
“It is an unacceptable transference of blame and indeed constitutes offenses both under the Elections Act and the Penal Code. It is a subversion of the constitutional order of the nation,” reads part of the report.
According to Foulser and Olufemi, the Wafula Chebukati led commission has remained steadfast in the situation and is pushing on despite the difficulty and challenges.
