Jubilee is blackmailing the IEBC selection panel to nominate Leperes Naikuni for the electoral commission’s top job, Cord has said.
In a statement yesterday, the coalition said it has reliable information the state is pushing for the “Jubilee-allied” Leperes to take over.
“We will not allow Jubilee to subvert the will of the people of Kenya by influencing the recruitment of a Jubilee-friendly candidate as the IEBC chairman,” Cord CEO Norman Magaya said.
Lawyer Leperes is among five applicants for the IEBC chief interviewed yesterday.
Magaya said the consequences of trying to influence the recruitment would be “too grave to contemplate”.
“It is not lost on us that the Jubilee regime has demonstrated an insatiable affinity for subversion of processes and perfected the art of shortcuts in pursuit of power. We however wish to send a stern warning,” he said.
Magaya said the debate about the election must revolve around credible, rather than peaceful polls.
“Peace is a direct consequence of credible elections,” he said, warning the IEBC selection panel to resist the temptation of what he termed “the carrots dangled by Jubilee”.
At the weekend, Deputy President William Ruto criticised Cord for constantly faulting the IEBC.
He said the opposition cannot be the referee of its own game.
Magaya said it is “obvious why Ruto is against Cord’s attempts to seal loopholes”.