Aspirants in Homa Bay senate seat agree on campaigns

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has harmonised campaign schedules for the Homa Bay senatorial by-election as police warn candidates against disobedience.

In an event that took place at the IEBC offices in Homa Bay town over the weekend, the commission met all the candidates' representatives and prepared a special timetable to guide them in the process.

The campaign schedule was made in such a manner that if one candidate is meeting voters at one venue in the morning, another is not supposed to feature there until afternoon when the first candidate is expected to have gone elsewhere.

Speaking to The Standard, Homa Bay County By-election Returning Officer Maurice Raria said the schedule would help avoid dispute over venues.

"The timetable was mainly focused on time, date and venue because it will also make it easier for both the public and security officers to follow what these candidates will be doing in various parts of the county," Mr Raria said, adding that the candidates were unanimous on the timetable.

Property destruction

All candidates sent their representatives for the exercise except Philip Okundi of Maendeleo Democratic Party who was present.

Okundi appealed to his colleagues to avoid using youths to stir violence during the campaigns.

He expressed his commitment to follow the schedules and lead peaceful campaign rallies throughout the exercise. "I want to challenge both my fellow candidates and the electorate to demonstrate peace as a sign of love to this county. Violence can lead to destruction of property which has taken us many years to acquire," said Okundi.

But police warned the candidates against violating the campaign schedules.

County Administration Police Commander Jebel Munene said: "I want to tell all candidates to note that the campaigns will start from 6am and end at 6pm hence they have legal obligations to maintain peace in the county as they lure the locals to vote for them," Munene said.