IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati has officially written to the National Super Alliance (NASA) in response to the list of issues the Opposition insists must be addressed by the electoral body before the fresh elections.NASA had demanded that the IEBC release all relevant information on the technology infrastructure and the commission's support partners. They wanted the system to be transparent and verifiable.
On this, Chebukati has stated he intends to conduct a full audit of the servers guided by the previous orders from the Supreme Court. Chebukati also noted he had decided to embed two ICT experts from NASA and Jubilee into his team to ensure total transparency.
"This process will be transparent with international experts and representatives from the Jubilee Party and the NASA coalition,"the IEBC Chairman.
On the use of technology, which has been the biggest bone of contention, the electoral body did not address the question of Safran Identity and Security firm's involvement in the bungled elections. Safran, a France-based firm, was the company hired to provide the electronic kits used in the August polls.
The Commission also noted that the decision to limit the fresh elections to two candidates was informed by the Supreme Court of Kenya's ruling in 2013. The ruling made it clear that new elections will involve only the petitioner and the president-elect.
The Opposition Coalition had also asked the commission to review electoral infrastructure - the polling stations and voting register. They alleged that some polling stations used in the August 8th election were not gazetted.
In response, the IEBC asked NASA to review the gazetted polling stations and those whose results are on the forms. They promised that any discrepancies would be addressed.
Chebukati noted that all polling stations were gazetted, but there were issues with names previously used in certain locations and their current names.
The Commission, however, dismissed the review of the voters register, highlighting that it had already been done.
NASA had also demanded that Al Ghurair, the Dubai-based printing firm be black-listed from the forthcoming process. IEBC has clarified that the commission is in consultations regarding the publishing of all statutory forms.
Mr Chebukati also told the opposition leaders that timelines make it near impossible to review all Returning Officers, but promised that the project team would look at cases of specific Returning Officers who mishandled the election.
He also urged the parties to finalize their lists of 40,883 agents for the polling stations and 290 for Constituency Tallying Centres before 2nd October 2017. He requested NASA not to politicize the issue of Returning Officers.
In finality, the embattled commission Chairman declared that the independence of the electoral body be respected. This was in response to NASA's demand that five Secretariat officials including CEO Ezra Chiloba either step aside or be suspended.
The Commission promised to hold regular briefings with all parties involved, including civil society, religious leaders and the business community.
He assured them that a meeting with the two Presidential Candidates to discuss the ground rules for the new election will be organized shortly.
