The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna, has accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of mistreating political parties as the 2022 General Election draws closer.
Sifuna, who was speaking on Citizen TV’s Day Break Show on November 16, 2021, accused IEBC of trivializing the role of political parties in the election process despite their importance.
“It is very bad manners the way IEBC treats political parties yet we are biggest stakeholders when it comes to elections,” stated Sifuna.
He was expressing the party’s disappointment over last week’s move by IEBC to declare that 89 political parties were non-compliant with nomination rules.
The outspoken ODM politician further faulted IEBC over poor communication, saying that the body is using the wrong channels to pass its message. Sifuna argued that the choice of channels is diminutive and does not exhibit respect to the parties.
He argued that political parties should be addressed confidentially and in an official manner rather than using the press.
“I didn’t find it amusing that they could write letters to us as political parties and before we receive those letters, they have sent copies to you in the media,” the angered Sifuna noted.
The 2017 Nairobi County ODM Senatorial aspirant also expressed concerns over the electoral body’s tendency to put all parties in one basket, protesting that parties such as ODM had complied with the nomination rules and do not deserve to be shamed as other small parties.
On Wednesday, November 10, 2021, IEBC issued a statement through a presser, urging the 89 affected political parties to comply with nomination rules.
The parties were ordered to submit the revised and compliant nomination rules before the lapse of 16 days, upon which they would be issued with compliance certificates.
The electoral agency further threatened that parties whose nomination rules will not be aligned with the requisite regulations, shall not receive compliance acknowledgment, and consequently be barred from participating in the upcoming elections.
ODM fell victim to IEBC’s action over their gender imbalance in the composition of the Internal Dispute Resolution Tribunal, which the party feels did not deserve such public attention.
