James Orengo opposes IEBC invitation for bids to audit voter's register

Siaya Senator James Orengo. He has written a protest letter to the electoral agency for inviting bids to audit the voter register. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Siaya Senator James Orengo has written a protest letter to the electoral agency for inviting bids to audit the voter register.

Mr Orengo criticised the eligibility criteria spelt out by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the invitation for expression of interest for the audit of the register of voters.

In a scathing letter addressed to the commission secretary, Orengo said the criteria falls way below the statutory objective.

"In my view, it probably targets organisations that have been working with the commission, and is part of the ruinous mess that have characterised elections in Kenya twice in a row," he said in the letter.

The Senator warned that the former IEBC commissioners and the secretariat can no longer make important decisions until a new team is constituted.

"They cannot undertake this extremely important exercise in the absence of the new commissioners who are going to be held responsible and accountable to the people of Kenya for the conduct of the general election next year," he said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has already declared the IEBC commissioners' positions vacant.

Orengo co-chaired a parliamentary select committee that drew electoral reforms ahead of next year's polls.