The electoral commission should be reconstituted before conducting any referendum, civil society says.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in its present form is unfit for the exercise because it lost credibility after the disputed last election, the convener of Civil Society Reference Group Suba Churchill said.
Speaking in Naivasha, Suba said the proposed referendum is critical to the future of the country and should be conducted by a credible organisation.
“As it stands, the current IBC has credibility issues and it has to be reconstituted so that we have fairness in the proposed exercise,” he said on Thursday.
He said a referendum can only be carried out in 2020, giving the state time to plan and provide funds.
“We need to carry out major electoral reforms before the referendum is conducted so that all the players can be satisfied with the results,” he said.
Suba accused politicians of pushing the electorate to make uninformed decisions before understanding the real issues raised in calls for a referendum on the Constitution.
“Civic education should be carried out by IEBC, members of the civil society and churches as the politicians have already taken positions and want to poison the voters,” he said.
