Lands minister James Orengo wants the government to make public the population of eligible kenyan voters living in the diaspora to avert poll rigging. Orengo claimed that focus of rigging has been shifted to the diaspora where stringent election rules are yet to be put up. He called on the government and the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission to make the figure public before the elections.
Speaking at Wire village in Ugenya over the weekend, Orengo said there is a possibility that members of the G7 alliance are planning to rig the diaspora votes in a bid to trounce Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The Ugenya MP urged IEBC to put in place proper mechanisms for the diaspora votes to ensure proper anti-rigging factors are put in place. “It is true that the G7 will not hold and since they are going it individually to the polls as per the indication, they are hell bent on using the diaspora votes to rig out Prime Minister Raila Odinga,” said Orengo.
Kenyans in the diaspora are for the first time expected to vote after the new constitution gave them the privileges. Under the new system, Kenyans in the diaspora will assemble in various government embassies to vote for their candidate of choice. The diaspora voting has been largely criticised as that favouring those who appointed the ambassadors since the ambassadors will act as the returning officer.
What makes the latest declaration even more alarming is the dreadful possibility of a return to the Moi-era electoral practices being applied to voters in the diaspora. “Yes, it is a dreadful situation when you have ambassadors (like Moi-era DCs) serving as returning officers for diaspora voters. What is particularly disconcerting about this is the fact that the ambassadorsare presidential appointees, many of whom are politicians with vested interests,” said Rodgers Orero, a Kenyan living in the UK.
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