Deputy President William Ruto has asked Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance coalition to stop interfering with the affairs of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Speaking on Sunday, July 10, Ruto who was on the campaign trail in Turkana county accused Raila of messing up with IEBC’s mandate to run a free, fair and credible election.
“You wanted to break the judiciary using BBI. You also broke the Samuel Kivuitu commission and the one by Hassan Omar and now you want to do the same to Chebukati’s commission because you are unsatisfied,” Ruto said.
The DP further stated that Kenya as a nation needs an independent electoral commission which should not be tampered with by individuals and their personal interests.
Ruto’s statements were also echoed by his co-principal in the Kenya Kwanza coalition Moses Wetangula who said that IEBC is well prepared to run the elections come August 9.
“The country is ready, IEBC is ready. Elections will go on with or without your participation,” Wetangula said hitting while at Raila and the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
Ruto and his co-principals were addressing Raila’s concern about the ability of IEBC to conduct credible elections.
In his past statements, Raila had stated that IEBC should use manual voter registers in running the August polls.
IEBC had planned not to use printed registers on polling day saying they would create an avenue for electoral malpractices.
However, Raila said his team won’t compromise on their demand for the commission to provide manual registers as a complementary method of voter identification should the electronic kits fail on polling day.
“Manual register is a must at each and every polling station. It’s not negotiable,” Raila said.
