ODM faults IEBC over provisional results

By Caleb Mutua

Presidential aspirant Raila Odinga’s team cast a shadow of doubt on the transmission of election provisional results at the National Tallying Centre, Nairobi.

Through the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) National Election Board chairman Franklin Bet, the party cried foul over the electoral body’s decision to use the printed version of the voter’s register after electronic voter identification devices failed in different parts of the country.

Mr Bett was also concerned that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) started streaming in the provisional results while there were voters still queuing waiting to vote in different polling stations.

“To us, it was giving advantage to certain groups in the competition to know who is now leading,” he said, terming the provincial results “just figures floating on the screen”.

Jubilee coalition presidential aspirant Uhuru Kenyatta, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity alongside his running mate William Ruto, took an early lead which he has managed to maintain for more than seven hours since tallying started.

During the press conference at the Bomas of Kenya shortly before 3:00am, Mr Bett added that other voted were not marked with ink after casting their vote, making it easy for the voters to come back and vote.

The ODM National election Board also complained of incidences of voters being given two ballot papers for presidential candidates and other cases where voters were allowed to vote without their identity cards.

However, when addressing journalists during the fourth press briefing, IEBC CEO James Oswago maintained that they did not interfere with the provisional results.

He invited all the interested and concerned parties to approach the commission for any explanation or clarification.

Earlier on, IEBC chairman Issack Hassan had stressed that the printed registers were credible and reliable.

All the eight presidential candidates have reiterated that they will all concede in case they are defeated and vowed to engage the judiciary if election disputes arise.

First published in March 2013.