IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati has reiterated that the repeat presidential election will go on as scheduled on Thursday 26th October. Addressing the press at Bomas of Kenya, the IEBC chairman said the decision has been backed up by assurances from relevant authorities, security agencies, and the progress made by the commission in the preparations, “All voting centres will be opened at 6:00 am and all Kenyans are encouraged to go and vote,” he said.
The IEBC boss acknowledged that the nation is at a critical stage where tough decisions have to be made, “Every great journey of success be it for an individual, an organization, an even a nation as great as ours gets to the point where tough decisions have to be made, it’s a battle against the status quo and moving forward,” he affirmed.
However, Chebukati castigated police officers for the brutality meted out on Kenyans countrywide, “The Commission has watched and heard many terrible things that Kenyans have experienced in recent times, and the excessive use of force by the police is not an illusion but a reality,” he said. He said he has consulted with IPOA (Independent Policing Oversight Authority) and they have agreed that the police brutality has to stop, “Any officer engaged in harassing innocent Kenyans and keeping them from participating in the polls and exercising their rights including the right to demonstrate will face the full force of the law,” said Chebukati. He added that the Commission has received a guarantee from the Inspector General of police that strategic and operational changes have been made to ensure peaceful and lawful expression of human rights.
