National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga has announced he will not take part in the repeat election set for October 26.
Announcing the decision on Tuesday evening, the opposition coalition placed blame on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and Jubilee party saying they were the reason for their unprecedented decision.
Here are NASA’s six main reasons for withdrawing from presidential race.
- IEBC has “refused, neglected or failed to put in place mechanisms to correct illegalities and irregularities cited by Supreme Court during the nullification of the August election.”
- The electoral commission has been acting in bad faith, citing among other issues, the retention of service providers such as technology firm Safran/OT Morpho and printer Al Ghurair which NASA has accused of being complicit in bungling of the August poll.
- They accused IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba, whom they call “coup plotter in chief” of still dominating operations of the commission and stifling any attempt to initiate reforms at the commission.
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NASA says that Jubilee is firmly in charge of IEBC through four commissioners who have set out to implement the party’s agenda within the commission.
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They took issue with the proposed amendments saying; “The ill-conceived amendments to election laws are not only unconstitutional but go against international best practice that in the middle of an elections contest one cannot change the rules and put in place rules that seek to favour him.”
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NASA further pointed out the withdrawal of its leaders’ security saying the State has made it untenable for the candidates to campaign freely without fear of being harmed.
According to the coalition, Raila’s withdrawal from the election “is in the best interest of the country and a win-win for everyone”.
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