Raila Odinga's ODM Party won big on Wednesday, November 6, when the High Court in Nairobi gave orders that the IEBC furnish them with the complete Kibra voter register, hours to the much-anticipated Kibra by-election.
Reports from Daily Nation indicate that Justice John Makau directed IEBC to release the document to ODM, but without the personal data of the constituents.
IEBC has, however, challenged the ruling, stating that it requires at least seven days to effect the ruling.
The party, through lawyer Jackson Awele, is reported to have petitioned the court to order the electoral commission to publish the register containing the names, national ID, telephone numbers and the respective polling stations.
Reports from People Daily indicate that the decision to go to court was necessitated by claims from some voters that they had been left out of the IEBC voters register under unclear circumstances.
“My name is missing from the purported register of voters by IEBC. I wish to confirm that I have never applied to be transferred as a voter and neither did I receive any notification of changes to my registration details as required by regulation 10 of the Elections (Registration of voters) Regulations 2012,” a voter complained to the court.
The court ruling came barely two days after ODM Party sued the IEBC for failing to publish the register as was required by law.
"We are not taking anything to chance. ODM will not allow below-the-table games between the IEBC and some of our competitors in the Kibra race," the ODM Communications Director Philip Etale told Kenyans.co.ke on Monday, November 4, 2019.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna had also weighed in on the issue and explained that the commission had deliberately refused to publish the register.
"On October 24, the commission released an incomplete register. The list lacked ID numbers which made it difficult for voters to verify their registration particulars," Sifuna sensationally claimed.
The hotly contested Kibra by-election is slated from Thursday, November 7.
