IEBC sued over plans to reverse transfer of 50,000 voters

Mandera governor aspirant Hassan Noor and Senator Billow Kerrow during a press conference in Nairobi where they raised alarm over missing names on IEBC list. (Photo: Willis Awandu/Standard)

A section of locals have moved to court to stop the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from reversing the transfer of over 50,000 voters.

Although the petition was filed by six affected voters on behalf of the 50,000, it is an extension of the raging political war between governor Ali Roba of Jubilee Party and his Economic Freedom Party (EFP) rival Hassan Noor Hassan.

The dispute started last week when EFP leaders, led by Hassan and outgoing Senator Billow Kerrow, claimed over 50,000 voters were missing from the register after IEBC reversed transfer of those who moved from Nairobi and other regions.

The petition has sucked in IEBC Commissioner Abdi Guliye, with claims he was behind the move to reverse voter transfers amid deep-rooted clan wars and scramble for seats between Jubilee and EFP.

Through senior counsel Tom Ojienda, the voters argued Mandera was prone to inter-clan skirmishes and that reversing their transfer was likely to trigger chaos.

"The 50,000 voters are apprehensive that Prof Guliye, a commissioner with the IEBC, is  behind the decision to reverse their transfer to various wards in Mandera County in an effort to give his Degodia community an upper hand in the forthcoming elections," said Prof Ojienda.

But Roba hit back at EFP leaders, saying they had sensed defeat and were now scaremongering to lay the ground for rejecting the outcome.

Rival political camps are accusing each other of working with some IEBC officials to manipulate the election. The case will be heard on Friday.