NASA: No re-run with Chiloba in charge at IEBC

Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | Raila Odinga’s National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition boycotted President Uhuru Kenyatta’s opening session of parliament on Tuesday and reiterated their demand that changes must be made at the electoral body IEBC before they participate in the election re-run on October 17.

NASA on Tuesday outlined 9 election conditions, among them that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO Ezra Chiloba CEO and ICT Drector James Muhati should not participate in the re-run ordered by the Supreme Court.

In a statement (below), NASA stated that “Officers who facilitated the display of figures purporting them to be results but which at the Supreme Court hearing were disowned by the commission as mere statistics should equally be barred from participating in the fresh’s elections,” NASA said in their  “position paper on irreducible minimum before fresh elections are held.”

As Kenyatta made his speech, Odinga held a rally alongside other opposition leaders and lawmakers in Kibera, a Nairobi slum, dismissing the opening of parliament as “a Jubilee meeting”

“The president has no powers to open parliament because his victory was nullified by the court,” said Odinga. “Parliament can only be opened by a validly elected president. He was not.”

Odinga also reiterated demands that the election commission be overhauled if his National Super Alliance coalition is to participate in next month’s vote.

Earlier, a meeting called by the IEBC flopped after only NASA leaders turned up in time. The team led by Odinga walked away after an hour, insisting they needed to look through a proposal they got at the meeting from the IEBC with plans for the next poll.

Jubilee’s William Ruto turned up an hour late, and said they had a caucus meeting and was not able to arrive earlier.