Kenya election is heating up day after day and the violence ravaging the nation is unprecedented. Reports today (BBC News) suggest that a senior member of Kenya’s electoral commission (IEBC) has resigned, saying the country is unable to hold credible elections next week.
Roselyn Akombe said the IEBC was under political “siege”, unable to reach consensus or take any decisions. Now in the US, she told the BBC she had feared for her safety while in Kenya after receiving numerous threats.
Last week, opposition leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the 26 October presidential re-run. The Supreme Court annulled the result of the original 8th August, 2017 poll, which saw current President Uhuru Kenyatta declared winner, after finding irregularities and illegalities.
In an interview from New York, Ms Akombe said:
“The election commission’s IT head, Chris Msando, was “brutally murdered” before the August poll, and “you’ll be suicidal to think that nothing will happen to you”. “I have never felt the kind of fear that I felt in my own country,” Ms Akombe told the BBC.
“I have tried the best I could do given the circumstances. Sometimes, you walk away, especially when potentially lives are at stake. The commission has become a party to the current crisis. The commission is under siege. “The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee a credible election on 26 October 2017.”
