IEBC commissioners led by chairman Wafula Chebukati (photo/standard media)Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced four changes it will make ahead of the October 26 repeat presidential election.
Commissioner Roselyne Akombe, on Friday, explained that some of the reforms the body had undertaken that would facilitate the upcoming repeat presidential poll.1.Presiding officers firedIEBC has also laid off 200 presiding officers who conducted the August election after looking into errors that the Supreme Court highlighted.“We have dropped over 200 presiding officers who made errors in the previous election. We have also dropped some ROs that after vetting, were found not to be competent,” She added.2.Results VerificationAccording to Akombe, the electoral body will conduct prudent verification of the results before announcing the official results which should be done within seven days.“We have seven days to announce the results. We shall not be rushed to announce no matter the pressure mounted on the staff," stated Akombe.During the presidential petition, the Commission was faulted for announcing unverified results at the polling stations.3.Standardised formsIEBC has stated that the results declaration forms shall be standardized with the presiding and returning officers expected to ascertain their security features before signing and submitting them.This is to boost uniformity and consistency. The electoral body has resolved to make all forms 34A and 34B uniform to avoid any discrepancies as noted by the Supreme Court.4.Media CoverageDr Akombe also assured that during the October 26 poll, the media will cover results from all 290 constituencies compared to the August 8 poll where the media streamed the results from the IEBC National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya.The Commissioner also revealed that Safaricom will be the main service provider helping in the transmission of results. .