IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has hit out at the National Police Service (NPS) over the alleged harassment of its personnel.

Chairman Wafula Chebukati is now demanding the cessation of harassment of its staff, following an incident on Thursday, July 21.

“The commission is still troubled by the acts of the police and demands cessation of harassment of personnel legitimately contracted service providers and calls for the immediate release of all confiscated items,” Chebukati said in a statement on Friday.

IEBC also claims that the number of people arrested is three and not one as police claimed in an earlier statement. Their personal items including mobile phones, laptops, and flash disks were confiscated.

According to the electoral agency, one person was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), while two other foreign nationals were arrested when they went to check on their colleague.

“Their release was conditional as they have to appear before the OCS Anti-Terrorism Unit on July 26, which inevitably affects the performance of their duties,” said Chebukati.

Authorities on Friday said they had released a Venezuelan national contracted by the IEBC after establishing that the election-related stickers he had at the JKIA on Thursday were genuine material belonging to the electoral agency.

The foreigner had been arrested after police suspected him of impropriety upon landing at the JKIA with IEBC material declared as “personal luggage”.

Authorities said they had detained him while investigating why the election-related stickers that he had hadn’t been declared as per the law.

On Thursday, IEBC said three Venezuelan employees of Smartmatic firm contracted by the commission to manage technology during the August 9 polls were arrested at JKIA.

Chebukati accused unnamed persons of intimidating the commission.

“The brazen decision of the security authorities to arrest, detain and confine in a solitary hideout the three personnel without justification, is an exhibition of intimidation on hardworking persons who are only keen to deliver a robust technology infrastructure for conduct of a credible, secure and verifiable election,” said Chebukati.