The Jubilee administration has yet again come under scathing attack for allegedly ‘protecting’ the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) from onslaught for its own benefit.
On Monday, several Cord supporters and their leaders were dispersed by security personals after they attempted to camp outside the IEBC offices as a method of piling pressure on the commissioners to quit office.
But nominated senator Janet Ong’era now accuses Jubilee government of ‘owning’ the electoral body and warned it of severe consequences if they failed to join calls to disband the body.
“What I am seeing is a scenario where Jubilee is busy owning IEBC by protecting them. That is unacceptable and they must be ready for severe consequences if they can’t join us in calling for resignation of the commissioners,” Ongera said.
“The credibility of the commission is a doubt and even the church has come out calling for its disbandment. Therefore, I fail to understand why Jubilee is vehemently defending people who have shown blatantly their incompetence,” she said.
She said the commission’s integrity had been compromised and questioned Chairman Isaac Hassan’s remarks that labeled Cord coalition losers in a past interview.
“They are no longer impartial arbiters and this means they cannot oversee a free and transparent exercise. Mr. Hassan was openly heard saying that Cord coalition consists of losers and that shows how they have already come up with an informed opinion,” she said.
She challenged the government to withdraw its support on the commission and instead join hands to constitute a commission with trust from either side of political divide.
“Elections are near and the commission has lost trust from a number of us. It will be fair if Jubilee withdraws its support for them so that we constitute a team that has trust from all political parties,” she told the report on Monday during a phone interview.