KNCHR hearing on integrity set for today

kenyancourt
kenyancourt
A case in which The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights KNCHR has moved to the Supreme Court with concerns about the integrity of politicians ahead of the General Election is set for hearing today.

KNCHR  is seeking  an advisory opinion from the court on standards and guidelines that should apply to leadership and integrity as leaders seek clearance to vie.

In its report dubbed 'The Fallacious Vote', the commission said the nominations did not meet requirements of free and fair elections.

KNCHR cited bribery, violence, missing names (of both aspirants and candidates), harassment and duress (of both aspirants and candidates), intimidation and violence against the marginalised and vulnerable and manipulation of the voter register.

Mbogori said voters were discouraged as out of the 224 polling centres it monitored, 79 opened late and closed in the night.

She said cases of missing name raised the most concern as this was reported at 115 polling centres.

"This is attributed to the fact that none of the political parties in the stations monitored had its own authentic party register. KNCHR established most of the political parties resorted to the use of 2013 IEBC register.

"It was evident that most political parties were not prepared for the primaries. The majority of them, including the two major coalitions, opted to use the 2013 voters register because they lacked an updated political party membership list."

Bungoma county led in voter bribery claims with 25 per cent, followed closely by Nairobi with 17 per cent and then Kirinyaga and Garissa at nine per cent.

"At least 12 cases of open bribery by aspirants were registered and evidence captured by the KNCHR monitoring team," the report stated.

Out of the 224 centers monitored, the National Police Service endeavored to provide security at a minimum of 2 officers. But in 79 centers, officers were overwhelmed by the large number of voters.

Seventeen cases of violence were reported in 33 counties - the reported stated that two people were killed and 10 hospitalised with injuries.

Twelve cases of intimidation and harassment were reported - a female aspirant was banished from her home for participating in the primaries.

KNHRC monitored 224 centers in 33 counties based on security trends. These included Bungoma, Kakamega, Kisii, Migori, Siaya, Tana River, Lamu, Kwale, Garrissa, Marsabit, Turkana, Mandera, Isiolo, Samburu and Baringo.

Others were Nakuru, Kirinyaga, Meru, Laikipia, Elgeyo Market, Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Kericho, Bomet, Narok, Nairobi, Kiambu, Muranga, Mombasa, Wajir, Nyamira, Kajiado and Kisumu.