The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati has on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, revealed to the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) that the electoral body lacks the ability to stop the early political campaigns currently being held by politicians, in total contravention of the provisions of the Elections Act.
Chebukati told the NCCK that the commission's hands are tied and that they only have powers to oversee campaigns once the official campaign window is open.
‘’As of now we know that early campaigns are ongoing and it’s against the Elections Act, and we hope the relevant agencies that deal with aspects of prosecution; that’s the office of the DPP, will take action against those breaking the law,” Chebukati said.
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The IEBC chair took the platform to beseech the clergymen to help in mobilizing youths to register as voters and take part in the upcoming elections. He revealed that the commission will conduct a nationwide mass voter registration exercise in January after the earlier exercise did not hit the set targets.
“Thereafter from February we will start the process of cleaning up the register, audit of the register, verification of the register and so the only chance Kenyans have both locally and even in the diaspora is to register in January because after that we will close the process of registering new voters,” he said.
Chebukati further warned aspirants to desist from attending Harambees as from Thursday, December 9, 2021.
He said that aspirants participating in Harambees risk being locked out of the next general elections as the law dictates that aspirants must steer clear from fundraisers, 8 months before an election is held.
