Kenneth: Some candidates enjoy backing of State

By FELIX OLICK

Presidential aspirant Peter Kenneth has raised the red flag that some candidates in the race to State House enjoy the full backing of the State.

Kenneth told European Union election observers that massive Government resources have been allocated to certain presidential candidates tilting the race towards them.

“We are concerned that certain candidates enjoy the full backing of the State. As a result a lot of State resources are being used in their campaigns,” maintained the Planning Assistant Minister.

Speaking at party headquarters in Nairobi yesterday, Kenneth said the General Election slated for March 4 must be fair to all aspirants.

He called for peaceful polls insisting that Kenyans must not go through the painful experience witnessed after the disputed 2007 presidential elections.

He urged Kenyans to interrogate the policies of all the aspirants who are gunning for the top job, adding that the election must be about solving Kenyan issues.

Former Prime Minister of Slovenia and a member of the European Parliament Alojz Peterle leads the European Union Election Observation Mission.

Speaking during the event, Peterle, who is also the Chief Observer, noted that the EU mission serves as a neutral and impartial team of experts and observers.

He said they were invited to Kenya by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and would be making independent and comprehensive analysis of all aspects of the elections.

The mission will comprise of up to 70 observers to be deployed across the country.

In 2007, the EU said the General Election was marred by a lack of transparency in the processing and tallying of presidential results, raising concerns about the accuracy of the final results.

They recommended an impartial investigation into the accuracy of the presidential results from all polling stations to enable an independent audit be carried out.