The Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) has declined the move by Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission to lock out candidates with pending suits.
The electoral agency upheld the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Through a statement, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said that the Commission received a report of one aspirant who had been convicted but the court has since appealed the decision to the High Court.
“The commission reckoned that such an aspirant is protected by the provisions of the Article 99(3) and Article 193(3) of the Constitution; which stipulates that a person is not disqualified unless all possibility of appeals and review of the relevant sentence or decision has been exhausted,” stated IEBC.
On the acquitted persons, the commission received a report of six gubernatorial aspirants and a Woman representative of the National Assembly who were prosecuted but have since been acquitted by the courts.
“It is trite law that persons who have been tried in court but acquitted are innocent and cannot, therefore, be barred from contesting as candidates in an election. The six aspirants are, therefore, qualified. Under this field to contest as candidates,” read the statement.
Chebukati named aspirants who have been barred from vying in the August General Election saying it had been derived from the 241 names forwarded to the commission by the EACC.
Chebukati said that IEBC had vetted the names and grouped them under; cases under investigation, prosecution, convicted without appeal and those convicted and pursuing an appeal.
Other sections under investigation are cases of acquitted persons, aspirants lacking required academic qualifications, and cases of impeached aspirants.
From the findings, Chebukati explained that those disqualified were only the contestants who had been convicted without appeals, candidates who had been impeached from office, those without the required academic qualification, and the public officers who failed to resign by the stipulated dates.