Political activist Okiya Omtatah at a past court hearing. He wants IEBC to acquire new KIEMS kits ahead of October 26 repeat presidential polls. [Photo: mwakilishi.com]Political activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to the High Court in a bid to compel the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to acquire new KIEMS kits for use in the October 26 repeat presidential election.The Kenya Integrated Election Management System will among other things electronically identify voters through its automated poll book known as the Electronic Voter Identification (EVID) system.Omtatah claims that the KIEMS kits that were used during the August 8 General Election must not be reconfigured for reuse in the poll and should be preserved for a period of three years."IEBC has an obligation to protect the KIEMS kits alongside all other election materials for three years before any configuration is carried out," Omtatah told the court on Wednesday.The vocal activist claims he is aggrieved that, contrary to the provisions of the law, instead of the IEBC procuring new KIEMS kits, it plans to re-configure the ones used during the August 8 polls, thereby destroying data stored in the gadgets.He argued that the materials ought to be preserved as concerned parties and election petitioners may want to look at them to ascertain credibility in the conduct of the election.If Omtata, is able to convince the court that the said gadgets should be preserved as they are, Kenyan taxpayers could cough up to Sh3.6 billion to cater for the same.

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