National Super Alliance (NASA) co-principal Musalia Mudavadi has rejected the new move by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to reshuffle County returning officers just a few months to the August 8 Elections.
Mr Mudavadi suspects foul play by the electoral commission in the reshuffle, adding that the move amounts to a plan to rig the upcoming polls.
In a statement sent to newsrooms on Monday evening, Mudavadi claimed that the electoral board was biased and it had practised ethnic profiling during the reshuffle process.
“We reject those postings not because we are against the officers but want to protect their integrity against negative perceptions their posting has generated to the effect that they are an advance team to steal the August elections.
"We, therefore, ask IEBC to revoke the postings,” Mr Mudavadi lamented.
He further alleged that the returning officer was a critical part of management and deliverance of free and credible elections and their appointment should not be on the basis of ethnicity.
“The Constitution demands the exercise of equal opportunity for all Kenyans. Any Kenyan should serve anywhere in Kenya, and not be discriminated against on the basis of creed and ethnic origin. Reverse discrimination is also abhorred,” he emphasised.
He further questioned the criteria the electoral commission had used during the reshuffle especially in the western region which is also a key stronghold for the Opposition coalition.
“Is IEBC telling Kenyans that only members of a single community could be found within its staff to qualify for posting to Western?
“We in Nasa are, therefore, unable to discern the criteria and logic of IEBC posting members of only one community as returning officers to serve in certain electoral areas, especially the western region,” he stated
