The Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) has criticised IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati for failing to involve them in critical decisions that the commission is making ahead of the 2022 general elections.
In a press conference that was held on Thursday evening at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha, the parties accused Chebukati of being reluctant in engaging them as a way of preparing for a credible and fair election.
“We are sending our message to our chairman Wafula Chebukati not to poison the political environment by issuing statements before consulting with the stakeholders because it will unfortunate to get an apology from them and yet they had put us on the newspapers that we have not complied to the regulations,” PPLC Chairperson Evans Misati said.
PPLC held a press conference on the backdrop of a meeting of all 83 registered Political Parties in the country ahead of the 2022 elections.
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Misati said during the conference that Chebukati's recent attack on political parties where he accused them of being none compliant with the elections regulations was ill-advised, since the parties have met the requirements.
“All the registered political parties have since met the requirements and submitted the nomination rules to the IEBC. The statement that went to the public was erroneous since IEBC had not consulted the political parties,” Misati said.
He added that conduct free and fair nominations for the coming elections.
The parties also expressed their disappointment to the commission for failing to join them for a conference that started on Wednesday, even after inviting the chairperson through the letter.
They now want Chebukati to work closely with them as proposed in the Kriegler report which informed the creation of PPLC as a dialogue platform between IEBC, Political Parties, and ORPP.
On November 10, 2021, Chebukati issued a statement saying that out of the 89 political parties which submitted their nomination rules, none had fully complied with the law.
Chebukati gave the parties 14 days to make amendments.
"Pursuant to the provisions of Section 27 (2A) of the Elections Act, 2011 and Regulation 6 of the Elections (Party Primaries and Party Lists) Regulations, 2017, the Commission has reviewed the submitted Political Party Nomination Rules," Chebukati said.
Edited by D Tarus
