Raila Odinga wants new elections held on October 24

NASA principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Musalia Mudavadi.

Nairobi, Kenya: NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga has said that IEBC erred in declaring new election date without consulting stake holders.

Raila stated that there are still many issues that remain unresolved and should be addressed before the commission is allowed to conduct fresh polls. He also criticised the electoral commission for not following court orders by locking out other candidates.

He faulted Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for reducing the election to a contest between himself and Uhuru. He said the Supreme Court had annulled the entire presidential election and therefore IEBC was erring by locking out other presidential candidates.

“IEBC officials should not be allowed to conduct the election but instead be sent home, investigated and prosecuted for heinous acts,” Raila said.

The NASA leader also proposed that the elections should be held on October 24 and national exams should be pushed ahead by two weeks.

Raila said IEBC had promised to consult with Jubilee and NASA on the election date but it seemed the electoral agency had decided to go along with a proposal by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.  On Matiang’i proposed that the elections be held a week before the national exams.

The IEBC Monday announced October 17, 2017 as the new presidential election dates.

The commission has determined that only Raila, the presidential results petitioner, and Uhuru, the third respondent in the Supreme Court case, Uhuru Kenyatta, shall appear on the ballot. Kenyans will be going back to vote following last week's nullification of Uhuru's re-election by the Supreme Court.

CS Matiang’i proposed The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams be held between October 23 and November 29 and The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams from October 31 to November 2.

IEBC based its decision on the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on a presidential candidate filed by Raila and which it dismissed.

One of the candidates, Ekuru Aukot of the Thirdway Alliance, has already threatened to sue to have his name in the ballots. He garnered 27,000 votes. Another candidate, Mohamed Dida (38, 004 votes) has criticised the President for “disrespecting” the Supreme Court and thrown his weight behind Raila.