A senior Kenyan electoral official has resigned and fled the country, in a new blow to the country’s presidential vote due to be held in eight days’ time. Roselyn Akombe quit as a commissioner of Kenya’s electoral board by issuing a statement from New York saying the rerun of the presidential election scheduled for 26 October cannot be free and fair. “I do not want to be party to such a mockery to electoral integrity,” Akombe said in a statement. The flight of such a high-profile electoral official underlines the growing crisis in the east Africa state, long seen as a bastion of relative political stability in a volatile region.
The US-educated former United Nations official told the BBC she had fled from Kenya to New York after receiving numerous threats but did not identify who was threatening her.
“This election as planned cannot meet the basic expectations of a credible election,” said Akombe, who was one of seven election board commissioners.
“Not when the staff are getting last-minute instructions on changes in technology and electronic transmission of results. Not when in parts of country, the training of presiding officers is being rushed for fear of attacks from protesters,” she said.
Full Article: Kenya election official flees country and claims presidential vote will not be free | World news | The Guardian.