The IEBC has agreed to expedite the verification of Cord’s 1.4 million Okoa Kenya referendum signatures and submit the Bill to county assemblies by March 1.
The deal was arrived at during a meeting between the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and Cord leaders Raila Odinga, Moses Wetang’ula and Kalonzo Musyoka.
Raila, who is Cord leader had said: “They gave us the excuse of limited resources and our failure to submit a soft copy of the signatures.”
“But we agreed that it is not the wish of the executive to provide resources as they wish. The constitution does not say signatures must be in soft copy.”
Wetang’ula (Bungoma Senator) said the signatures have been lying around for 90 days and asked the executive to ensure adequate resources, by way of the supplementary budget, are given to the commission.
The meeting at IEBC offices on Monday also agreed to ensure BVR kits are distributed fairly. Cord had accused the IEBC of deepening division along party and ethnic lines by sanctioning the “skewed” distribution of BVR kits.
Raila had said the number of people should have been considered in the exercise that saw the commission give two kits to each of the 1,450 wards.
“We are registering people, not land; the IEBC must distribute the kits based on the population of an area,” he said, adding focus should be on sealing rifts and helping the nation heal.
The coalition issued a statement on Monday after Raila, Kalonzo and Wetang’ula met more than 13 governors in Kisumu.
Raila said the approach amounts to plans to rig the August 2017 general election in favour of Jubilee and against Kenyans’ expectations and wishes.
“The skewed distribution poses a threat to the dream by Kenyans to elect a truly representative government that shares and furthers the dreams and aspirations of the people and must be resisted and rectified,” read the statement.
The Opposition chief said the commission should prepare to take full responsibility for the consequences of the manner in which
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