RAILA ATTACKS IEBC

The ODM leader Raila Odinga today has launched a scathing attack on the country’s electoral body.

Raila was riled by IEBC’s claim that the BBI referendum would cost a whopping KSh 14 billion. He termed the amount outrageous and said that’s one of the reasons that the body should be disbanded.

Mr Odinga said assertions by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) acting CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan during a session in Parliament on Tuesday was an indication of the greed that has rocked the commission.

Mr Marjan had said that the figure had been arrived by considering the current number of registered voters which stands at 19.6 million. Mr Odinga said that Marjan and his entire team had lost credibility and should be overhauled and streamlined.

The ODM leader said the figure quoted by IEBC was unrealistic.

“Elections have become one of the major avenues for ripping off the country through various schemes that are never meant to save costs or yield credible results but to line pockets of individuals. Those schemes are evident in the IEBC’s latest reasoning,” said Mr Odinga.

Raila said that IEBC has been robbing Kenyans of billions every election year. In advanced countries, the cost of conducting an election according to Raila is between $1-$2 dollars. Raila wondered why after holding numerous elections, IEBC could not match that figure.

“There is absolutely no excuse why Kenya, with a long history of holding elections, should pay more,” Mr Odinga

“That kind of impunity cannot be allowed to soil an exercise like the upcoming BBI referendum whose objectives, among others, is to stop the culture of theft of public resources and corruption in public offices. The upcoming referendum is also intended to bring sanity to our election processes including aligning the costs to the global trends. That message needs to get to IEBC,” said the ODM leader.

Raila said that he will seek a common ground with IEBC. “Shortly, we will pick a team to sit with IEBC and itemize what will lead to a cost effective referendum exercise and elections. IEBC seems to be determined never to develop an operational performance that contains costs,” said Mr Odinga