Okoa Kenya starts verifying signatures for referendum

Kisii Senator Chris Obure signs to support Okoa Kenya's push for a referendum when he launched the exercise in Kisii County on Tuesday. [PHOTO: ERICK ABUGA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Okoa Kenya Secretariat has begun verifying signatures collected from various parts of the country towards the push for a referendum.

But voters in Rift Valley region, the political stronghold of the Jubilee coalition, have been slow in responding to calls to append their signatures.

According to Norman Magaya, who heads the secretariat, the internal verification exercise started last Monday when they began receiving registration booklets from various constituencies.

Mr Magaya said they were comparing the signatures collected to the voter register obtained from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

"We want to make sure that those who appended their signatures are registered voters before submitting the document to IEBC," said Magaya, adding that the electoral body requires both the soft and hard copies of voter signatures for the referendum.

Magaya told The Standard Thursday that the signature collection exercise was going on smoothly and they expected to exceed the five million signatures target set by the CORD leadership.

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He said the only setback so far was an incident in Malindi where robbers broke into local ODM offices and stole unused booklets.

He announced that the secretariat was scheduled to launch a civic education programme on September 25 at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi at a general assembly to be addressed by CORD co-principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang'ula.

"The programme is part of the public engagement exercise aimed at sensitising people about the Okoa Kenya initiative," said Magaya.

Okoa Kenya was launched in Nairobi on August 13 to collect five million signatures to push for a referendum on devolution, land and electoral reforms, and inclusivity.

A spot check by The Standard showed that clerks employed to collect signatures in Rift Valley region have been sitting idle at registration centres. Those we spoke to said they were waiting for the CORD leadership to officially launch the exercise in the region.

Magaya said the secretariat released 500 booklets to officials in the region, adding that the exercise would be successful.

The Constitution requires a minimum of one million signatures to force a referendum.