Reuben Kigame has come out gun blazing accusing the electoral commission of a deliberate attempt to lock him out of the August 9 presidential contest.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was dealt a blow Monday after it was directed by the high court to include his name on the presidential ballot paper.
Kigame, who was seeking clearance as an independent candidate was disqualified over alleged insufficient signatures to support his bid.
Unhappy with the judgement, the commission lodged an appeal Wednesday which is currently being heard by the appellate court.
Kigame took to his Twitter account to hit out at IEBC and rally Kenyans, the government and human rights defenders to support him.
The gospel singer who was on a rant, wondered why everyone was quiet when his rights and dignity were allegedly being violated.
The poll body further stated that Kigame only presented a list of 1, 013 supporters as at 25th May, 2022 as opposed to 48,000 supporters as required by law.
“The requirement to be nominated by at least 48,000 supporters is a constitutional requirement whose non-compliance renders the nomination papers invalid,” IEBC argued.
“The Commission has not had sight of any other list of supporters adverted to the in the Court’s Judgement and is not aware that the list of supporters was presented before the Honourable Court.”
IEBC further protested that the time constraints would also make it almost impossible for the electoral board to include the aspirant’s name on the ballot paper.
Preparation, printing and transportation of the presidential ballot papers require at least 30 days, yet the poll is 18 days away.
It further asserts that the inclusion of a new candidate and his running mate on the ballot paper will require a reprograming of the Candidates Registration Management System (CRMS) for registration and ballot proofing as well as the reprograming of the Results Transmission System (RTS) to include the candidate and his running mate.
The post Where is my dignity? Kigame cries foul as IEBC appeal takes off appeared first on KBC.
