The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga has set conditions for President Uhuru Kenyatta if the two are to have a dialogue regarding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to Odinga, he was ready to discuss matters concerning the electoral body but that would only happen if it was restructured.
Odinga stated that for the Opposition to participate in the 2017 elections, several electoral reforms must be implemented including cutting down the number of IEBC Commissioners and reviewing the system of announcing presidential results.
“IEBC must be lean and representative. We propose to reduce the number of commissioners from nine to seven or even six. It is a fallacy to assume commissioners have no political preferences,” Odinga was quoted by the Standard.
“We have proposed that the IEBC chair will not be a full fixed term but rotational every one to two years to guard against the chair imposing himself or herself on the rest of the commission by building clout," he added.
The Opposition leader further outlined the composition of the panel for his dialogue with the President, which included political parties and non-political actors such as civil society, trade unions and religious groups.
In addition, the former Prime Minister demanded that national Identity Cards (IDs) be issued within three months after Kenyans apply.
“Registration of voters is dependent on possession of ID cards. It is a right to have an ID and all eligible citizens should be registered for us to have credible elections,” he stated.
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