Jubilee Party is urging for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024, currently awaiting President William Ruto’s assent, to be sent back to Parliament for revisions aimed at removing a clause allowing the use of a vehicle as a polling station.
The party argues that this new clause could potentially facilitate election rigging, as the current electoral process in Kenya relies on stationary polling stations where voters cast their ballots.
“This is an amendment, it’s a new clause that has been introduced as 38A, 1A, and it reads, the commission shall appoint a place or places or designate a vehicle or vehicles or a vessel or vessels as polling station or polling stations for each electoral area,” the party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni said.
Kioni argued that the bill allows the use of vehicles in the entire electoral areas and not in need basis where voting on a stationary premise is not possible.
“I don’t think Kenyans are fools to allow this kind of an amendment to pass. Even as he signs, this is one of the areas that requires to be sent back to parliament for deletion. This is a clear way of trying to rig elections and we know that Ruto is permanently looking for ways of bringing himself into power,” he said.
Jubilee faulted Ruto for promising to appoint IEBC commissioners in 10 days which will lapse on Wednesday. Yet, the law requires that he establishes a selection panel which will then interview the applicants for the commissioners’ positions.
“He (Ruto) said that you’ll have constituted within 10 days. He has not travelled in the last two, or three weeks. So most likely he has done something, but I haven’t seen anything up to date,” Kioni said.
Track record
The party urged the President to ensure that only those with commendable track records are appointed as commissioners of the electoral body calling on Gen Z to remain vigil and to reject appointees with questionable character.
“We want the help of Generation Z because they can track what we have done in the past. Let them dig the dirt of every person who will be appointed to either be part of the selection panel or a member of the commission. As Ruto embarks on this exercise of getting commissioners into office, let him not make mistakes of appointing people without a track record,” Kioni said.
Additionally, Jubilee claimed that Ruto has no powers to dissolve parastatals saying that this can only happen through an Act of Parliament, in the same manner they were established.
“All these parastatals have been established through an Act of Parliament and it is only by repealing the Acts through Parliament that such a promise can be made. So for him (Ruto) to stand in front of Generation Z and Kenyans and to give such a promise, it is another way of looking for a reason to postpone the eventuality that is now certain,” Kioni said.
Following public rage that degenerated into street protests organized by the youth, Ruto announced on Friday that he had dissolved 47 state corporations their mandate was transferred to ministries and state agencies as a means to enforce austerity measures in government.
