Mechanical breakdown of the government printer is reported to have caused the delay in gazettement of contestants in the August general elections.
According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) the list of 16,000 candidates across the six elective seats had been delivered for gazettement by June 30 this year.
“We understand there were logistical challenges including breakdown of the equipment at the government printer and that’s why it has taken a bit of time,” said Chebukati.
Nonetheless, IEBC legal advisor Crispin Owier assured Kenyans that the gazette notice will be out in the recommended time as the government printer was burning the midnight oil to that effect.
“As of yesterday there was a slight problem on the photographs of the candidates. The notice has to come out with the photographs of the candidates so this morning the government printer indicated that it was almost done with the transposition of the photograph,” Owier stated.
Moreover, the IEBC addressed the issue following concerns by election stakeholders that the electoral commission started printing ballot papers as opposed to the law which says it should be done after candidates are gazetted.
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Furthermore, the commission also clarified that there exists no legitimacy crisis in the ongoing printing of ballot paper exercise by Inform Lykos.
“The regulation was about gazettement of legislations that was passed by county assembly of Kiambu not gazettement of candidates per se,” Owier stated.