Azimio presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, has mocked his competitor, Deputy President William Ruto, over his earlier claims that one million voters from his strongholds had been removed from the voter register.
Speaking in Makueni County, on Tuesday, June 14, Raila stated that Ruto was scared and that is why he is throwing doubt over the credibility of the upcoming elections.
Raila opined that DP Ruto was growing cold feet over his looming defeat in the August polls and that is why he alleged that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) struck off one million voters from its register.
He added that the IEBC is mandated to hold free, fair and verifiable elections and the DP should focus on campaigning instead of raising fear and doubt among the electorate.
DP Ruto had alleged there was a larger plot to rig the polls in August as he urged the international community to be vigilant and hold those involved accountable.
“We expect that everybody who is concerned including the EU to try and get as many details as possible both from the electoral commission and these public officials on what all this is all about and how did close to a million names disappear from the register.
"And many of those names are from what we consider our stronghold. It is a clear attempt to try some monkey games," DP Ruto stated while meeting European Union ambassadors at his Karen residence.
The DP told the EU envoys that Kenyans wanted answers from the electoral commission and urged the international community to join in and ensure the country holds free and fair elections.
“We do not believe they will succeed but these attempts are a source of concern to Kenyans. We are ready to work with the electoral commission and friends to deliver credible elections," he added.
DP Ruto's claims were dismissed by IEBC chairperson, Wafula Wanyonyi Chebukati, who maintained that the electoral agency was keen to deliver credible elections.
Chebukati maintained that no names had been struck out or illegally transferred to other polling stations as the DP had told EU ambassadors.
“There has been no breach or any form of interference with the systems that we have maintained,” he stated.
He further explained that the missing names were of voters who applied for transfers and the electoral Commission was working to ensure that the right process is used for the transfers.
“Yes there are cases where polling centres were re-gazetted because of the requests by the owners of those institutions and new polling centres created, making a movement of voters, but those are the aspects that we will clarify to Kenyans,” the IEB chairperson stated.
