NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 8 \u2013 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Edung Ethekon has sounded the alarm over what he termed a dangerous rise of \u201csuper agents\u201d who allegedly disrupted the November 27 by-elections through intimidation, violence and unlawful interference in the electoral process.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting, Ethekon said the commission had recorded several incidents where senior political figures stormed polling stations, forced their way into tallying centres and issued threats to IEBC officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing a new and very dangerous phenomenon.These so-called super agents are not ordinary agents they are senior politicians who think they can simply walk into a polling station and take over the process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said several presiding officers reported harassment and physical confrontation, calling the conduct totally unacceptable in a constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these individuals arrived with crowds of supporters, overran polling stations and sought to direct the work of our officials.That is not observation that is intimidation,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The IEBC Chairman disclosed that a number of cases were referred to security agencies and that the commission expects arrests and prosecutions where officers were assaulted or election materials interfered with.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me be extremely clear: assaulting IEBC officers is not politics, it is a criminal offence. Those responsible must be held personally accountable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The IEBC boss said the incidents were contained due to police intervention, but cautioned that the trend signals a deeper problem of political actors trying to insert themselves into the operational work of the commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis idea that elections belong to politicians is wrong.Elections belong to citizens. IEBC is only the custodian of that sovereign will,\u201d Ethekon stated.<\/p>\n
He warned that unless the conduct is confronted early, Kenya could face heightened confrontation during the next General Election.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this behaviour is allowed to take root, it will poison the environment long before 2027.Our message today is simple: this stops now,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
He urged political parties to train lawful polling agents rather than \u201cdeploy ring-leaders,\u201d and called on civil society to help reinforce lawful conduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need professional agents not people who storm stations looking for illegal advantage \u201cThe vote belongs to the voter. The outcome belongs to the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the November 27th by-elections,Homa Bay Town MP Peter George Kaluma and his bodyguard were attacked at Agoro Sare during the ongoing Kasipul by-election, and his firearm has reportedly been stolen.<\/p>\n
Kaluma, who was serving as the ODM Party\u2019s chief agent in the by-election, was assaulted by a group of youths at the Agoro Sare Primary School polling station.The MP was rushed to a hospital for medical attention.<\/p>\n
The Homabay Town lawmarker who had arrived at the station ahead of ODM candidate Boyd Were Ong\u2019ondo, sustained a head injury during the confrontation.<\/p>\n
Kaluma was beaten on the head by youths allegedly supporting an opponent of ODM candidate Boyd Were at Agoro Sare Primary School in Oyugis town.<\/p>\n
Last week, Election Observation Group (ELOG) released its preliminary findings, flagging serious breaches of electoral integrity across Kasipul, Malava, Mbeere North, Nairobi and Machakos.<\/p>\n
ELOG\u2019s national coordinator, Mule Musau, said observers documented repeated cases of violence, harassment and blatant political interference.<\/p>\n
In Kariobangi North, observers were allegedly blocked by crowds demanding money, while long-term monitors reported open voter bribery and undue influence during campaign periods.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe distribution of relief goods such as blankets constitutes voter bribery under Kenyan law,\u201d Musau noted, citing Section 9 of the Electoral Offences Act, which prescribes penalties of up to Sh2 million in fines or a six-year jail term for those involved in bribery.<\/p>\n
ELOG also criticised senior public officials who were seen using state resources to support preferred candidates, saying such actions fundamentally undermine electoral impartiality.<\/p>\n
Observers further reported incidents of unauthorised individuals accessing polling stations in Kasipul, Malava and Mbeere North, compromising ballot secrecy and violating IEBC accreditation rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome individuals, including political party super agents, were observed moving freely between polling stations despite clear restrictions,\u201d Musau added.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 8 \u2013 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Edung Ethekon has sounded the alarm over what he termed a dangerous rise of \u201csuper agents\u201d who allegedly disrupted the November 27 by-elections through intimidation, violence and unlawful interference in the electoral process. Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting, Ethekon said the commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}