Jubilee aspirants in Mandera have denied claims that some 50,000 voters were unwillingly moved from their polling stations to other electoral areas in the far-flung county.
Governor Ali Roba at a press conference said claims by candidates vying for political seats in the county on Economic Freedom Party were meant to discredit the IEBC. He termed the claims by Senator Billow Kerrow and colleagues as “unfortunate, a fallacy and a fiction of their own imagination”.
EFP has lodged a case in court seeking to know why 50,000 voters were involuntarily moved to other electoral zones. EFP claims the IEBC move is meant to disenfranchise his supporters.
“Any allegations of illegal and fraudulent voter transfer of the magnitude are unfounded, reckless, and malicious and a blatant lie aimed to place doubts on the integrity of the voter register and to achieve political mileage by our opponents,” Roba said as quoted by the Star.
Roba said EFP was formed by politicians who were not sure of winning Jubilee nominations.
“The move to form a new political outfit for use as a vehicle in the upcoming election is inspired by the sense of defeat and failure to rally the electorate to support their political bid,” the county chief said.
Those at the press conference said they had raised issue with the IEBC over plan to transfer voters to EFP strongholds.
“The IEBC has acted on the complaints and contacted the DCI to investigate the criminal activity of some clerks. They have since put five clerks behind bars,” the JP leaders said in a statement.
“We know EFP is facing a serious internal crisis and contradictions. We wish to categorically state that no amount of grandstanding and propaganda will alleviate the status of their desperate campaigns.”