Some 85 individuals, 24 of whom are independent electoral and boundaries commission (IEBC) officials, have been charged with various electoral offences following the just concluded general elections, office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has revealed.
A report from the prosecutor’s office indicates two politicians are among those who have been charged. The report shows that the politicians will be charged with voter bribery while the IEBC officials will be charged with failure to perform official duty. Others will be charged with being in possession of election material, damage of election material, unauthorised entry into election centres, impersonation and murder.
The prosecutor’s office has also ordered investigations over violent incidents in some regions in different parts of the country.
Analysts say that the elections have been so hard fought because becoming an elected official brings many financial benefits.
The Chief Prosecutor Keriako Tobiko says his office is already dealing with election offences which occurred since the voter registration period and during the primaries.
The cases will be handled by a team of 105 officers established under ODPP for specific electoral offences that include hate speech and incitement. Tobiko said he had established a framework for inter-agency collaboration between his office, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), IEBC and the national cohesion and integration commission (NCIC) for effective detection, investigation and timely prosecution of these cases.
