The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is this week expected to brief Members of Parliament on its status of preparedness towards the General Election in 2017. The Commission Chairperson Issack Hassan and his Commissioners who have come under sustained pressure from the opposition and the clergy to resign are expected to appear before the Justice and Legal Affairs on Thursday. According to the IEBC, one of the failures in the 2013 election was the late delivery of Electronic Voter Identification Devices to polling stations. It says this time around, it will send out the EVIDs in good time. The commission also intends to conduct a mock election in August to test the transmission of the devices. The Commission will conduct another mass voter registration exercise in March 2017, five months to the General Election slated for August 8, 2017. IEBC Chief Executive and Secretary Ezra Chiloba is slated to appear on Tuesday regarding the same matter.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) separately called for the reconstitution of the IEBC and the Supreme Court ahead of the 2017 polls citing there was a lot of misgiving regarding their credibility and capacity to handle and oversee a fair process.
In a statement to newsroom, IEBC scoffed at the resignation calls saying that it should not be distracted from implementing its Sh40 billion Election Operations Plan and taking other elaborate measures to ensure the next election will be free and flawless.
The Election Operation Plan was unveiled in January earmarking day-to-day events the Commission will undertake until the Election Day.
Full Article: Kenya: IEBC Chiefs to Give MPs Election Preparedness Status Report – allAfrica.com.
