Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition flag bearer Raila Odinga has raised issues with Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) boss Wafula Chebukati, questioning his silence on a series of letters he has written to him, pointing gaps in the process of preparing for the fast-approaching August polls.
Raila through his legal advisor Paul Mwangi highlighted key issues including a complementary mechanism for the identification of voters.
Odinga is seeking assurances from Chebukati that physical voter registration will be available in all the 46,232 polling stations, citing the High Court order staying Chebukati’s administrative directive barring the use of manual registers as an alternative mechanism of voter identification.
Odinga has also penned two letters to Chebukati, seeking answers on the printing of ballot papers and uploading the voter register into the KIEMS kits.
At the same time, he is requesting Chebukati to facilitate his team’s tour of the Inform Lykos printing press in Athens, Greece where the August 9th ballot papers are being processed to ensure accountability and transparency.
Odinga also wants his technical experts to be granted an opportunity to inspect the processes of preparing the KIEMS kits, in conjunction with IEBC’s technical team alongside those of Smartmatic International, the company that was contracted to supply election technology.
The former premier is also reminding Chebukati of a letter he sent him last month, requesting a certified copy of the digital register of voters for scrutiny before the country heads to the ballot in August to enhance transparency and credibility in the exercise.
Despite Chebukati meeting all four presidential candidates last week, to iron out their grievances, Odinga has expressed dissatisfaction with some responses, and requested a bilateral consultative meeting with the commission within seven days.
With only thirty-four days to the General Election, Odinga insists the commission should make clear its state of preparedness.