Lamu Women Rep Shakila Abdalla at a past function [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Lamu Women Rep Shakila Abdalla has called upon the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to postpone the August 8 general election.
Speaking on Friday, Shakila argued that the voter register has a number of errors. She said the electoral body’s allowance of 30 days for Kenyans to confirm their registration details was not enough to ensure all errors are detected.The lawmaker said there are voters whose names are missing while others have their names appearing in areas where they didn’t register.She further asked the commission not to hold the elections on August 8, as Kenyans are not assured of the poll’s credibility.“There are obvious issues with voter registers all over yet the IEBC isn’t telling us what to do or what they plan to do. People have their names missing while others have their names wrongly written. Others have their names appearing in other counties,” she said, as quoted by Baraka FM.The Women Rep argued that the errors in the register give voters and aspirants reasons to lack trust in the commission.“How can elections be credible with such issues? The commission has very little time to claim that it can’t look into such matters effectively on time. Instead of holding questionable elections, why not postpone until the issues are resolved,” she added.However, Mohamed Adan, the IEBC elections manager in Lamu, reassured residents of free and fair polls.“Kenyans have nothing to worry about. The commission is ready to hold credible elections come August 8,” he said.