Governor Jackson Mandago says the August 9 polls will be peaceful in the North Rift despite reports indicating possible violence in the region.
The Uasin Gishu county boss said the region is not a violence hot spot county as indicated in a recent report by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.
Mandago said residents will keep peace and unity and that those spreading propaganda about possible violence in the region were misguided.
He said all leaders were free to campaign in the region and urged police to act tough on all those causing violence including the recent one at Jacaranda in Nairobi.
“We have had Raila Odinga, Martha Karua and many others coming to Eldoret even on foot and we did not have any incidents. No one should come around to sell us fear because the elections in the region will be very peaceful,” Mandago said.
He spoke in Turbo subcounty on Saturday.
Mandago who has served two terms and is vying for the senate seat said as candidates, they had agreed to ensure they keep peace and unity along with their supporters.
However the NCIC has insisted that it carried out an in depth survey before releasing its recent report indicating hot spot counties with a likelihood to experience violence during the August polls.
Commissioner Dorcas Kedogo who has been visiting the North Rift region said the report was factual and based on information from residents in the listed counties.
The counties named as hot spot regions include Uasin Gishu, Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa and Kisumu. She said the report was useful to help various actors intervene to stop the possible violence.
Elders in Uasin Gishu are among those who have criticised the NCIC accusing the commission of spreading unnecessary fear by releasing the report without a basis for the possible violence.
“We are not a hot spot county and the NCIC should stop relying on propaganda to release such a misleading report,” an elder James Nyambane said.
But Kedogo said the commission carried out an actual ground survey and that the report was based on information from residents.
“In fact this week we just met with various groups including youth and women and what is coming out is the same,” Kedogo said.
She said the commission was not interested in chaos during the polls but it had to take necessary measures to prevent such occurrence. She spoke in Eldoret where she launched a peace caravan which will traverse the region ahead of the polls.
Kedogo said NCIC had stepped up sensitisation efforts on peace and unity in hot spot counties ahead of the elections.
She said they have partnered with counties, civil society groups and the provincial administration to ensure they reach as many people as possible.
Kedogo said the aim of the sensitisation is to ensure the polls will be peaceful and that all communities in their respective counties will not be destabilised during the polls.
-Edited by SKanyara
