•The changes announced by commissioner Abdi Guliye saw some of those present at the venue vacate.
•Additional security officers were deployed at the centre to reinforce the directive.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's decision to lock out several actors from the National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya has been criticised by different players.
On Sunday, members of the civil society read mischief over the move to kick out some of the key stakeholders.
Kenya Human Rights Commission CEO Davis Malombe said several observers have been locked out of the tallying centre.
“This process has been left to security apparatus, it has completely been securitised and it is unfortunate,” Malombe said.
Malombe said it was wrong for elections to be treated as a security issue as opposed to a political problem.
He questioned why the local observers were not being allowed into the tallying centre.
“When you ask them questions, they refer you to security officers who take you through circles. The international observers are allowed in without any questions. This is complete discrimination,” he said.
Malombe urged the IEBC to allow the local observers access to the tallying centre saying they understand the electoral context much better and they are in a better position to raise the emerging issues.
Actors from the civil society said political actors from whichever side should not be allowed to interfere with the process or to pretend to declare who has won or who has not as that role is a preserve of IEBC.
Gladwell Otieno from Angaza Movement urged all political actors to act responsibly and not try to anticipate the role of the IEBC chairman.
Otieno said there were a lot of rumours.
On Saturday, the IEBC made changes on the persons to be allowed at its National Tallying centre.
The changes announced by commissioner Abdi Guliye saw some of those present at the venue vacate.
"We have made changes to access to Bomas tallying centre. We will only allow the presence of agents, persons who will help them, chief agents, deputy chief agents, clerks, observers and the media,” he said.
“From now on, if you are not on the terrace, can you please find your way out.”
Additional security officers were deployed at the centre to reinforce the directive.
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati told the press on Saturday that the verification process was taking three to four hours to process one returning officer.
He said 265 returning officers have reported at the National Tallying Centre.
141 ROS had been processed while 124 ROs were still in the queue.
Chebukati said there was a need to beef up the verification exercise so that ROs can be cleared.
To enhance speed, Chebukati directed ROs on queue to hand over original results to National Returning Officer.
The ROs will then go to the ICT desk for verification of forms 34As against transmitted forms 34As.
“Presidential agents will be given copies of forms 34As and Forms 34Bs for their own consumption. We believe this will fasten the process,” he said.
A chaotic incident that erupted at the Bomas of Kenya minutes past 11 pm on Friday saw an IEBC official assaulted.
Even as the battle between security agencies and local observers intensified, another group composed of civil society and professionals called on politicians and their supporters to exercise restraint and avoid raising tensions that could easily trigger violence.
They included LSK, Transparency International, KMPDU, Kenya Dental Association, Kenya Medical Association, Architectural Association, Wangu Kanja Foundation, IMLU, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, Amnesty International-Kenya, Haki Africa, Social Justice Center Working Group and International Centre for Transitional Justice.
The groups have raised alarm over the increase in what they termed as deliberate disinformation and misinformation and called on the public to verify the information before sharing it on social media.
In a joint statement, they applauded Kenyans for conducting themselves peacefully during the elections and called for calm as results are verified at the national tallying centre.
“We encourage the IEBC and media houses to continue to maintain the level of transparency and frequently update the public,” they said.
The group called for patience saying the constitutional deadline of seven days for the announcement of presidential results has not lapsed.
“We call for patience and calm as IEBC verifies the election results and announces the duly next elected president,” they said.
They also called on politicians and their supporters to allow the tallying process to proceed constitutionally towards its logical conclusion and urged all aggrieved parties to go to court and seek legal redress once the process is done.
“A protracted contentious post-election period will increase social tension that if left unchecked will trigger violence and displacement,” they said.
The professionals said this will overturn the gains made so far in reconciling and creating a cohesive nation and reverse post-Covid-19 economic recovery and reduce investor confidence.
“We must avoid increasing job redundancies and loss of livelihoods, destroying community assets, and restricting access to justice, essential health and education services including emergency sexual and gender-based violence support any further,” they said.
They want the government, through the Head of Public Service and the Presidential Transition Committee to ensure continuity of government services through this time and in the coming weeks.
This, they said, must include the payment of salaries to public employees as we await the results and transition to a new government.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris