Raila demands IEBC chief, minister quit over bribery claims
Cord leaders Raila Odinga (centre), Kalonzo Musyoka (left) and Moses Wetang’ula at a press conference in Nairobi on November 18, 2014. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA
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Cord has also asked KCB, the bank used by Smith & Ouzman’s (S&O) local agent to receive the funds, to disclose the amount that was wired through its accounts.
Cord has further asked the police to arrest Trevy James Oyombra, S&O’s local agent who was used to distribute bribes to officials of the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission
Opposition coalition Cord on Tuesday demanded the immediate resignation and prosecution of public officers named in the ‘chickengate’ scandal where Kenyan electoral managers reportedly pocketed about Sh50 million in bribes from a British printing firm.
The Raila Odinga-led minority wing also turned the heat on KCB, the bank used by Smith & Ouzman’s (S&O) local agent to receive the funds, asking the lender to disclose how much was wired through its accounts.
Cord has further asked the police to immediately arrest Trevy James Oyombra, S&O’s local agent who was used to distribute ‘chicken’ to officials of the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), including Energy secretary Davis Chirchir and James Oswago, the former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chief executive.
Other IIEC officials named are lawyer Kennedy Nyaundi (commissioner), Kenneth Karani (senior procurement officer) and an unnamed finance director.
“We demand the immediate resignation of all the officers and former officers mentioned in this scandal, their immediate arrest and their immediate prosecution.
“The accountability must begin at the top with the arrest and prosecution of Mr Chirchir and Mr Hassan [IEBC chairman],” Mr Odinga said at Tuesday’s press briefing in the company of fellow Cord leaders Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula, also the Senate minority leader.
“The Kenya Commercial Bank, to which money was transferred for Mr Oyombra for onward distribution, must help the investigations and disclose how much was transferred to the officials implicated.”
Mr Odinga was a presidential candidate in the March 2013 General Election and challenged Uhuru Kenyatta’s win at the Supreme Court but lost the case.
The coalition renewed calls to have IEBC disbanded saying the revelations of bribery at Kenya’s electoral agency casts aspersions on the integrity of last year’s polls which were marred with procurement, technical and systemic flaws.
“This same team that was asking for ‘chicken’ from the printing company proceeded to procure for the high-stakes 2013 elections,” Mr Odinga said.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
