Head of Jubilee secretariat Raphael Tuju says that Jubilee is alarmed by the close ties between IEBC technology director James Muhati and NASA consultant Edwin Ngonga. [Photo/ Capital FM]
The persistent attacks on the IEBC by NASA leaders are strategy to disrupt elections and dispute the election results if President Uhuru Kenyatta wins the presidency, Jubilee Party has warned.
The party has stated that opposition leaders have sensed defeat in this year’s presidential battle and are now making calculated moves in an attempt to force their way to power.
“It is evident that the opposition fear defeat in August and wish to disrupt the (polls). Their goal is clear – to call into question the whole process, and eventually the results,” Raphael Tuju, the head of Jubilee secretariat, said in a statement.
“We demand that the opposition allow the IEBC to proceed with the extremely important work of overseeing credible elections and publically agree to accept the result in August,” he stated, adding that NASA leaders fear they will not win the support of the Kenyan people.
Referring to the letter by Siaya Senator James Orengo, who also serve as the NASA lawyer, to IEBC, which stated the polls body was unable to conduct credible elections, Tuju said the opposition continues to attack the commission by mounting cynical legal challenges.
“The accusation that there is no time to conduct a fair election in August has been carefully planned by the opposition. Were it to be true, it would be a situation resulting directly from Cord, and now NASA’s deliberate actions that were specifically aimed at destabilising every IEBC process to date,” he noted.
According to Jubilee, NASA has already succeeded in placing a legal challenge against the appointment of KPMG, an internationally renowned auditing firm, to scrutinize the voter register and blocking the procurement of voting materials.
“So, on what grounds do they accuse others of influencing that body or to complain about delays? NASA claim to be the champions of democracy but their actions demonstrate clearly that their real intention is a dangerous attack against democracy itself,” Tuju added in the statement.
He said that Jubilee is alarmed by the close ties between IEBC technology director James Muhati and NASA consultant Edwin Ngonga.
“Jubilee is alarmed to learn that comprehensive details about IEBC technology has been shared with NASA and demand that such details also be given to Jubilee and other stakeholders,” said the former minister.
Last year, ODM leader Raila Odinga led opposition supporters in chaotic weekly demos that eventually saw the Isaack Hassan–led IEBC team hounded out of office. He started calling for the disbandment of the team after losing the presidential election in 2013.
But despite playing a central role in the selection of current chairperson Wafula Chebukati and his team to office, the opposition continues to brand the electoral body as ill-prepared and incapable of conducting free and fair elections.
In 2007, claims of election rigging threw the country into turmoil, with over 1,000 people losing their lives. A coalition government was subsequently formed, with ODM leader Raila Odinga controlling half of government.