CA director general Francis Wangusi. Photo/businessdailyafrica.comThe Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has warned media houses against announcing August election results before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
CA director Francis Wangusi said the authority is aware that there are media houses planning to relay results of the poll before the IEBC does so.
“We are reminding media houses toying with the idea of releasing results ahead of the IEBC to stop,” he said on Monday in Nairobi.
“IEBC is the only body charged with releasing the official results.”
The opposition NASA is establishing its own vote tallying centre in Tanzania from where it will monitor its performance by tallying its own votes across the country.
Some media houses also plan to do so.
Although the law allows other institutions other than the IEBC or individuals to tally votes independently, electoral regulations say it’s only he IEBC which has the mandate to announce results.
Wangusi said CA has put everything in place to ensure social media is not misused during the electioneering period to cause violence.
He refuted claims that the internet may be shut during the period of voting, vote counting and results transmission.
“We are unlikely to shut social media platforms but we are going to be very vigilant to flag off suspicious messages and handover authors to relevant authorities.”