Economy

SDAs oppose Saturday repeat poll

SDA

President of Kenya Union conference of Seventh Day Adventists Samuel Makori. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NMG

The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has objected to holding repeat presidential polls in four counties on Saturday October 28 and has written to the electoral agency asking it to pick an alternative day.

The Kenyan chapter of the church, which is a Protestant Christian denomination, argues that the day picked is a day of worship for over three million Adventists across the country.

“This will deny them their constitutional right to vote. While we support your move to give Kenyans who did not vote another chance, we request you to do it on another day other than Saturday the day of worship for SDAs,” said Head of the SDA church in Kenya, Samuel Makori, in a letter to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati.

Restore order

Mr Chebukati yesterday said voting in Kisumu, Homabay, Migori and Siaya counties will take place on Saturday once security agencies restore order in the areas.

Voting in the four counties - which are strongholds of the National Super Alliance (Nasa) - was shelved due to security concerns.

IEBC says polls failed to take off in the four areas after protests staged by Nasa supporters.

“Security is not in the hands of the commission. We were promised security by the Inspector-General of the Police and the government agencies and once we get feedback from them we shall be able to see how we can manage the movement of materials and the security of our officers in the affected counties,” said Mr Chebukati yesterday.

Nasa leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the presidential race and asked his supporters to stay away from polling stations.

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