LSK to IEBC: Stop working in isolation

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has asked the electoral commission to team up with investigative bodies to guarantee Kenyans a fair election come August 9.

Speaking at the LSK offices in Nairobi, LSK President Eric Theuri raised concerns saying the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has not addressed, with finality, the question of academic qualifications for nomination duly raised before it.

“The question of academic qualifications has been properly raised before the IEBC Dispute Resolution Mechanism. The society appreciates that the role to investigate indeed lies with other state agencies but reiterates it is the commission’s mandate, in collaboration with such actors as the DCI and ODPP, to ascertain the qualifications. We demand that IEBC should exercise its constitutional mandate and determine whether the candidates in question possess genuine degree certificates,” Mr Theuri said.

The society president, however, called on the electoral body to make public the challenges experienced during the election preparation exercise and the measures put in place to address those challenges.

“We note that the election is not an event but a process and so therefore it’s imperative that as we move towards the elections, the public has confidence that the commission is well prepared to conduct free and fair elections,” he said.

The society also has raised concern over the role of police towards maintaining peace as the country prepares for the General Elections.

“We call upon the police to be independent and not show favouritism to any party, and we call on the IG of Police to arrest with immediate effect the organizers and funders of the riots and to assure the country on the impartiality of the police service in the ongoing political contests,” Mr Theuri said.

In a statement signed by the commission chair Wafula Chebukati, IEBC condemned the violence witnessed at Jacaranda Grounds on Sunday.