Former Wajir Woman Representative Fatuma Gedi has accused the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO Hussein Marjan of recruiting his wife as Mombasa County Returning Officer.
Speaking in Upperhill during a press briefing by Azimio La Umoja Coalition on Saturday, August 27, Gedi slammed the IEBC chief for the move that amounted to conflict of interest.
It was the latest in sustained attacks by Azimio on the IEBC leadership, poking integrity holes on the institution for which they have taken to court on claims it bungled the election.
"In Mombasa, it is unfortunate that the IEBC CEO Marjan Marjan recruited his wife to be Mombasa county's returning officer. That is a conflict of interest and there is a scheme to deny the people of Mombasa their will by rigging," she said.
She emphasised that Azimio is prepared to ensure the residents of Mombasa have a free and fair election in the rescheduled pole to elect a new governor on Monday, August 29.
"As we go to Mombasa, we want to tell the CEO Marjan, we know you have planned to use your wife to rig the election in Mombasa, Kakamega, and the other constituencies," she charged.
In addition, she urged the residents of Mombasa to launch protests against Marjan's decision to recruit his wife as she raised further integrity questions on the IEBC chief.
"To the people of Mombasa do not allow the elections to be overseen by Marjan's wife. Marjan bangled the elections of the former Prime Minister," Gedi stated.
The politician blamed the commission CEO for interfering with the August 9 elections that saw William Ruto declared president-elect and that pushed his main opponent, the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga into taking legal action.
In her opinion, Raila is the rightful winner of the presidential poll. She was bullish that in case of a run-off, Raila would trounce Ruto.
Also speaking, Raila added that the team has a strong case in the Supreme Court petition, assuring his supporters that their victory would be restored.
He added that he was in communication with the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres, who commended the actions taken by Azimio to challenge Ruto's win.
