PRESIDENTIAL REPEAT ELECTION HITS A SNAG AS NASA CANDIDATE REJECTS POLLS DATE

The National Super Alliance presidential candidate has threatened not to take part in the October 17^th presidential election repeat.

Raila Odinga, while speaking in Nairobi on Tuesday, said he will not participate in the election if legal and constitutional guarantees were not in place for the crucial and sensitive event.

Last month, the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice David Maraga nullified the August 8th, 2017 presidential election, that which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner.

Supreme Court said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had not followed the Constitution in the way it handled the election.

The court had also ruled that the new election be held in the next 60 days which was to fall on 31st October, moments before Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination Exams begin.

“The fresh vote must held in an environment where everything that went wrong can be corrected,” Raila said during a press briefing.

He expressed his fears concerning the conduct of IEBC and pointed out that if the elections were conducted under the same officials, there would be no difference.

IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati has since constituted a six person team to oversee the preparation of the polls.

The Opposition had gone to the Supreme Court to challenge President Kenyatta's win arguing that the results had been tampered with during transmission from the polling stations to the National tallying centre in favour of the incumbent.

The Supreme Court will make its full ruling public within 21 days starting September 1st, 2017 to put into context what exactly transpired during the August 8^th 2017 General Election and the circumstances that led to the nullification of the presidential results.

Amongst the demands that the Opposition chief wants to be met is that the electoral body should follow to the constitutional guidance on conducting elections as well as the immediate sacking of some commissioners they claim participated in election malpractices.

Raila also insisted that all the parties concerned should have been consulted before announcement of the new dates, and that the court ordered for a fresh election, not a contest between him and President Kenyatta as IEBC would like Kenyans to believe.