- An IEBC constituted by the selection panel can only be that of the Kenya Kwanza political faction, and not of Kenyans, he said.
- He claimed that there are hardliners in the political space who do not care whether the country is plunging into chaos or not.
Image: JOSIAH ODANGA
The National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi on Thursday threatened that the opposition will not accept the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) by the existing selection panel.
Wandayi who was speaking during a bursaries distribution event at Sigomre Secondary School noted that the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) last year conducted deliberations and came up with a report, whose framework must be embraced to reconstitute the IEBC.
He stressed the same at Ugunja Technical and Vocational Training Center where he unveiled a new bus, two new classrooms and the Ugunja Constituency Strategic Development Plan (2023-2027).
"The matter of the reconstitution of the IEBC is not child's play. Some forces are trying to revive the moribund selection panel but we are not going to be part of any other route outside the NADCO framework," said Wandayi.
On the issue of the IEBC, we (the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition) have drawn a red line, he stressed.
An IEBC constituted by the selection panel can only be that of the Kenya Kwanza political faction, and not of Kenyans, he said.
He claimed that there are hardliners in the political space who do not care whether the country is plunging into chaos or not.
"Anybody trying to reconstitute IEBC outside the NADCO framework is playing with fire. Our lenience should not be taken for a weakness for we are prepared for you," the tough-speaking Wandayi asserted.
If that is to happen, Wandayi warned, Kenyans will witness a total collapse of the NADCO report including every other good recommendation in it.
"It would mean a total collapse of NADCO and the other recommendations in it so that we all go back to square one and you all know what square one means," he said.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party's Secretary of Political Affairs explained that there have been attempts by some people to engage the parliamentary Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on issues already taken care of by the NADCO report.
In the same breath, Wandayi warned the IEBC secretariat against any intention to conduct by-elections, as he noted, that they (the secretariat) have no mandate.
Wandayi explained that the opposition gave peace a chance by halting street does and engaging in the talks thus its outcome must be taken with the seriousness that it deserves.
"We did not go to the table because there was some new love between us and Kenya Kwanza. They were initiated to restore order in the country because the country was teetering on the brink of precipice, " Wandayi said.
Accordingly, Wandayi wants the National Assembly and the Senate to, as a matter of priority, make the NADCO report an agenda on February 13, 2024, when MPs return from recess.
At the same time, Wandayi put the office of the Interior Principal Secretary Dr Raymond on notice, claiming that it has been meddling in the recruitment of chiefs and assistant chiefs.
He alleged that the office has been making phone calls to deputy county commissioners wanting the latter to appoint specific individuals for the positions.
It is an attempt to turn those offices into political tools, he claimed.
"Don't get involved in small things like the appointment of chiefs and assistant chiefs. Whoever has emerged top in the interviews must be picked," he said.
Equally, he applauded the judiciary for putting a pause on the government directive that would see school fees paid through the e-Citizen platform.
Wandayi claimed that e-citizen is a scandal in the making and that it will allegedly lead to the loss of huge sums of money.