Connect with us

General News

Kenya: Chebukati Says Probe On Vote Rigging Claims By DP Ruto Referred to DPP

Published

4 years ago

on

[ad_1]

Nairobi — The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it has referred the investigations on the vote rigging claims by Deputy President William Ruto to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for further directions.

Speaking before the Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) on Thursday, the Commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati stated that the statement was made during Ruto’s tour of the United States, and this affected IEBC’s jurisdiction.

“We commenced investigation on the speech that DP made in Maryland, during his tour of the United States. Our investigation team then informed us that we could not continue with the investigation because of jurisdiction issue. We therefore referred the matter to the DPP who also has the power to enforce the code of conduct,” said Chebukati.

Chebukati further warned politicians against making comments which are not accompanied by substantial evidence regarding the election, saying they may lead to voter apathy in the coming August 9 polls.

“We are working with other agencies including National Cohesion and Integration Commission which also help us with hate speech investigations. We are asking Kenyans and political players to refrain from making sentiments that may lead to voter inflammation and apathy which will intern affect the election outcome,” Chebukati said.

He assured that the August polls will be free, fair, credible, impartial, secure and verifiable.

In his tour in the United States, Ruto told members of the international community that democracy was on trial in Kenya and that voters may not have a chance to freely make their choices at the ballot in the coming General Election.