Independent Candidates cry foul
By Martin Masinde
Aspirants vying on the independent ticket are a frustrated lot. Speaking to the media at IEBC offices, the aspirants under the umbrella of Independent Candidates Forum Kenya, lamented the unrealistic demands by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission IEBC.
“We issue this statement to express our total dissatisfaction with the IEBC requirement that we collect and make copies of ID cards of our signatories to the forms validating our nomination as candidates,” they said.
One such distraught aspirant is Hon Donesia Njeri who is vying for the Kasarani Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA).
Ms Njeri quipped, “We wish to state that this requirement is discriminatory, untimely, punitive, expensive, intrusive to citizen privacy and a requirement not enforced by IEBC in previous elections.”
The sharp legislator called upon the government through the IEBC to re-evaluate or withdraw the requirement in order to ensure free and fair elections to all candidates.
“the timing of it is ill-intentioned. It is punitive because, not only are the signature books in short supply and currently unavailable, but are cumbersome for candidates living with disability who need extra help in the collection and verification exercise.”
Furthermore the collection of ID copies from citizens is difficult because of a prevailing fear of data abuse.
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