Raila Odinga, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate, now says there will be no election unless the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) adopts both the manual and electronic voter register.
Odinga cited alleged plans by the Wafula Chebukati-led commission to interfere with the upcoming election, thus insisting on the availability of both registers.
Speaking at a rally in Githunguri on Wednesday as part of a charm offensive in Kiambu County, the Azimio boss said that the manual register in all polling stations is an irreducible minimum for his camp.
“With a manual register, it will be easy to tell how many people have voted in every polling station. In the electronic register, there is no record that remains,” said Odinga.
“That is why we’re saying that there must be a manual register at every polling station, it is not negotiable. We’re telling the IEBC they must have a manual register along with the biometric identification of voters on that day; failure to which, there will be no election.”
Odinga claims to have sufficient and reliable information that there is a plot to print extra pre-marked ballot papers in a neighboring country and then smuggle them in on Election Day.
The Azimio leader and his running mate, Martha Karua, pleaded with voters to give them the mandate to lead the country after President Uhuru Kenyatta steps down in August.
Karua, for her part, stated that if elected, the Azimio government will stand for everyone’s rights while being strict on wrongdoing, particularly graft.
On June 30, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission bowed to pressure and reversed its earlier plan to rely solely on the electronic voter register to identify voters.
However, the commission stated that it would only use the manual register as a last resort in the event of a technological failure.
The decision brought an end to weeks of wrangling between the commission, Raila, and UDA presidential candidate William Ruto.
The squabble over the use of the manual register was so heated that the electoral commission called a consultative meeting with the four presidential candidates in the hopes of reaching an amicable resolution.
Raila and Ruto were joined at the Windsor Hotel in Kiambu County by George Wajackoyah of the Roots Party and Agano’s David Mwaure Waihiga.
