Cord leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka now want the tenders awarded by the IEBC for the 2017 election frozen until new electoral commissioners are picked.
The two leaders, who spoke at Capitol Hill yesterday, said the new commissioners must be in office by December 23. They accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of frustrating the work of the commission by delaying assenting to the Elections Laws Act.
“People died on the streets because they wanted reforms and a well-managed electoral commission. It is annoying that the people they wanted out [commissioners] are still in office. Please don’t return Kenya to Egypt,” Raila told Uhuru.
In a statement read by Kalonzo, they warned Uhuru to be ready to bear the responsibility of any danger to peace, law and order.
Raila said nothing short of a credible election will be acceptable. He singled out IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba, whom he accused of being misused by the Jubilee leadership to advance their agenda. “We don’t want chaos. We love peace, but there will be a problem if things don’t go right. It will be peaceful only if it’s free, fair and transparent,” he said.
Chiloba has defended the commission over the handling of the Sh2.5 billion tender for the procurement of the ballot papers, saying it was above board. However, Raila said the tender was illegally awarded and asked why they were in a rush, when the election is eight months away.
“There can never be a commission without commissioners. There is a mad rush to deal with all the contracts and the award of tenders almost as an exercise of looting. But the fact of the matter is that the stage is being set for election rigging before new commissioners are appointed,” Kalonzo said.
The need to have the commissioners replaced was triggered by claims of lack of integrity and credibility and their alleged involvement in the “ChickenGate” scandal, whose investigations have never been concluded.
The two leaders said they will not accept anything short of a comprehensive audit of the voter register by a reputable firm, competitively procured. They said the register should be a single biometric voter register to be maintained in a public web portal for inspection by the voters.