Kiyiapi questions IEBC preparedness for polls

By ROBERT NYASATO

Presidential hopeful James ole Kiyiapi has raised concerns over the preparedness of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to competently manage the March 4 General Election.

He said latest events by the IEBC in relation to procurement of Biometric Voter Registration  kits indicated the commission was not ready to conduct polls to the expectation of Kenyans and the international community just five months to the election date.

“The IEBC is not prepared … those guys (commissioners) are displaying incompetence and are a let down to Kenyans,” said Kiyiapi in an interview with The Standard On Saturday after a series of road shows in Kisii to drum up support for his presidential bid under Restore and Build Kenya (RBK) banner.

The former PS wondered if there was a scheme to sabotage the much-awaited polls on March 4, next year.

“The level of preparedness is extremely low,” he said adding that the IEBC had not demonstrated how it would handle the exercise.

“We can’t accept mediocrity. We want the polls to meet international standards,” he said.

Separately, Foreign Affairs Assistant minister Richard Onyonka said Kenyans were being taken for a ride by the IEBC and called for clear time frames on how the process would be executed.