Postponing the Polls is a Criminal Offence-Bollo
By Tobby Otum
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati has shocked me with the decision to postpone the Mombasa gubernatorial race indefinitely.
Vibrant Democratic Party [VDP] leader and Mombasa gubernatorial candidate Awiti Bollo said the IEBC decision has left him in dismay and speechless.
He said he thought the electoral body is guided by law which stipulates how it has to be run and managed.
“We thought the body has the mandate to make fair decisions on behalf of the electorate,” he pointed out.
Awiti said the chairman has been running the electoral body like his private enterprise.
He was reacting to Chebukati’s decision to postpone the county gubernatorial race twice in unclear circumstances during a press conference held at Castle Royal hotel in Mombasa county.
The VDP gubernatorial candidate said he was amused by Chebukati who just woke up to make the decision without consulting relevant authorities on the impact it would make.
Awiti, who was flanked by losers in the just concluded elections, Wiper Democratic Movement’s Millicent Odhiambo (Nyali) and Umoja Summit Party [USP] Mombasa women representative candidate Civil Engineer Elizabeth Waweru, told Chebukati that his mandate is to carry out free, fair and credible elections.
He told journalists he is engaging his lawyer to demand for the refund of the costs he had incurred during the campaign period.
“The move to postpone such polls is a criminal offence and therefore I am moving to court,” he said.