NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 26 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has declared Monday, a public holiday in areas where elections are set to be held.
These include Mombasa and Kakamega counties where the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will conduct gubernatorial elections.
Other areas where polls are due to be held are Kitui Rural, Kacheliba, Pokot South, Rongai constituencies, Kwa Njenga Ward in Embakasi South, and Nyaki West Ward in Imenti North.
Matiangi asked employers to release their employees who are registered voters in the listed electoral areas to enable them to vote.
“In accordance with the Constitution of Kenya (Articles 101 (1), 177 (1) (a) and 180 (1) and the Public Holidays Act (Sections 2(4) and 3), Monday, 29th August 2022 has been declared a public holiday in the listed electoral areas. Employers around the country are requested to release their employees who are registered voters in the listed electoral areas to enable them to vote,” Matiangi stated.
IEBC had postponed the elections to August 23 due to various reasons but later suspended them indefinitely, citing intimidation and harassment of the electoral body’s members and staff.
The electoral body’s chairperson Wafula Chebukati pointed out that the staff are afraid of reporting to work due to profiling and arbitrary arrests following the announcement of presidential results.
On August 8, the commission had suspended the said elections over ballot paper mix-up.
“Ballot papers for the following elective positions were noted to have errors. Ballot papers for Kakamega county governor positions, Mombasa County have wrong gubernatorial candidate pictures and the details printed on them. Positions for members of the National Assembly in Pokot South and three in Kacheliba also have wrong gubernatorial candidate pictures and the
details printed on them,” Chebukati stated.
