Raila says NASA has no faith in the integrity of voters register

Nasa leader Raila Odinga meets former Ghanian President John Dramani Mahama at the Capital Hill in Nairobi on 7th August, 2017.Mahama is leading Commonwealth Observer Mission to Kenya in the general elections

National Super Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga has said the Opposition has yet to be furnished with the register of voters despite its requests.

Raila yesterday said his coalition has no faith in the integrity of the register and accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of failing in its mandate.

Integrity of register

"We have no confidence in the integrity of the register. We paid the requisite Sh20,000 to the IEBC but we have yet to be supplied with the list. This smacks of mischief," he told the media at his Capitol Hill office.

Speaking after meeting MPs from the European Union (EU) who had paid him a courtesy call, Raila also expresses his concerns about  mobile connectivity and the use of technology in the elections.

He asked why most of the polling centres with no 3G or 4G mobile connection are in his Nyanza stronghold and cautioned IEBC about using unstamped ballot papers.

"We have information that in NASA strongholds, unstamped ballot papers will be used. The law is clear that Kenyans must vote using the electronic voter identification devices and the use of stamped ballot papers. I urge my supporters to make sure that the ballot papers they use are stamped," he said.

He claimed that by IEBC revealing that 11,000 polling stations have no network and that most of them are in Kisii, Homa Bay, and Siaya, the electoral body wants to interfere with elections.

"Having 25 polling stations lacking network is serious dereliction by IEBC," said Raila.

He accused Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet of working with the Jubilee Party to frustrate the Opposition.

Elsewhere, NASA has once again claimed that there is a plot to rig today's elections.

Identification devices

The alliance claimed the plot includes the sabotage of electronic voter identification devices in Jubilee strongholds to allow the manual process to then facilitate ballot stuffing.

The Opposition presidential chief agent, Musalia Mudavadi, said leaders have credible information about the plan, claiming it had been relayed by a senior police chief to a relative.

The Raila Odinga campaign team said there was a determination of Kenyans of goodwill to share with them information on issues they think could negatively impact the elections and disturb the peace.

Manual voting

"We have information that the Jubilee administration plans to switch off electronic voter identification devices in all their strongholds at 12 noon Tuesday. This will then give way to pure manual voting and stuffing of the ballots," said Mr Mudavadi.