NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 7 – The first batch of ballot papers is set to arrive in the country on Thursday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati has announced.
Chebukati alongside IEBC commissioner announced that the poll agency is set to receive first batch of ballot papers today at Jomo Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
“We are receiving the first batch of ballot papers they are arriving in the country at the airport. All ballot papers will come through JKIA,” he stated during a stakeholders meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).
The IEBC Chairman allayed off fears raised by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya that the elections will be rigged through entry of ballot papers through the Uganda border.
Chebukati mentioned that the commission will not print any extra ballot papers saying they have only procured 22.1 million ballot papers which is the number or registered voters.
“There are no ballot papers from Uganda or anywhere else. Don’t accept individuals to lie to you. All ballot papers are serialized we are only printing ballot papers to the tune of 22,120,258 million which is the number of registered voters per every elective seat,” Chebukati noted.
The poll commission insisted that the election will be tamper proof as the ballot papers have security features which include serial numbers and be specified to a polling station.
“There is no additional ballot paper we know very well that there is no 100 percent voter turnout. If there is any spoilt vote it will be accommodated within that number,” Chebukati noted.
This comes hours after Azimio Secretary General Junet Mohammed called on speedy investigations by the relevant agencies on linkage between Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula’s and Inform Lykos.
The Suna East MP further urged Chebukati to come out clean on the issue of conflict of interest on the ballot paper printing tender.
“This is not a matter that can be taken lightly. This tender was cancelled by Public Procurement Oversight Authority before the court squashed the decision. Chebukati, we know you bungled the 2017 general elections,” Mohammed stated.
Chebukati however distanced himself from the allegation against him saying tendering issues are managerial issues delinking himself from claims that he was holed in meeting with Wetangula to solicit the tender.
“The commissioners and myself are not involved in the tendering process. As a commission we know its election time and we are bound to misinformation,” he said.
