All set for Malindi polls as IEBC recruits 460 officials

An IEBC regisration officer at Tudor ward in Mombasa County Waziri Mohamed (right) registers Voters during the ongoing nationwide Voter Registration exercise. PHOTO BY MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission (IEBC) has recruited 460 officials to manage the Malindi by-election.

IEBC North Coast regional coordinator Amina Soud said the commission will also deploy 210 police officers to provide security during the March 7 mini-polls.

She added that the agency has recruited 100 polling centres officers, 100 deputies and 360 poling clerks to manage all the polling centres in the constituency.

"We are finalising the process of recruiting the officers to manage the polls and already, we have recruited 460 officers, among them 360 poling clerks," said Soud.

The regional coordinator made the remarks at Turtle Bay hotel in Watama, Kilifi, on Saturday when she addressed officials of about 19 civil society organisations attending a seminar coordinated by Haki Africa.

Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid said as the country approaches the next General Election, human rights advocates and the civil society in general would be mandated to carry out extensive outreach programmes to meet people at the grassroots level and educate them on their right to vote.

Ms Soud said registration of new voters in the country was going on well.

The coordinator however said they had suspended registration in Lamu County and Malindi constituency due to an election petition filed in court on Lamu Governor Issa Timamy as well as the Malindi by-election.

She said the exercise was going on well in other areas within Kilifi and Tana river counties and urged youths who have acquired national identity cards to visit polling centres and register as voters.

Soud further challenged the already registered voters to visit their respective polling centres and confirm their names in the poll registers.