Matiang'i quashes NASA plan to adopt polling stations

NASA's plans to adopt polling stations are in jeopardy as acting Interior CS Fred Matiang'i has issued firm directives on officials allowed at voting centres.

Besides official agents, the Opposition intends to have monitors at each polling stations to guard its presidential votes.

But Matiang'i said only presiding officers, deputies, polling clerks and accredited party agents will be at polling stations on August 8.

"There is no room anywhere in the law or even in the arrangements that we have for anybody collecting hoodlums in the name of protecting ballot boxes and taking them to polling stations," the CS said on Friday.

He said police will not allow any chaos at polling stations, adding they will act firm on unaccredited persons.

"The protection of ballot is our responsibility with the IEBC and we have not asked anyone for help," Matiang'i added.

He said IEBC has issued a circular to security officials on the matter, which they are required to follow.

"Anyone who is not mentioned in the circular should be removed from the polling stations by all means possible."

The CS was speaking during a meeting with security officials led by IG Joseph Boinnet at the Kenya School of Government.

In June, NASA was seeking Sh410 million from well wishers for the 'adopt a polling station' strategy for guarding its presidential votes.

"...it costs Sh10,000 to adopt a polling station....multiply that by the 41,000 polling stations," presidential candidate Raila Odinga said. "That is the figure we need for the 'adopt a polling station' campaign."

NASA is putting up a tallying system that will provide presidential vote results within eight hours after stations close.

The IEBC has seven days to announce the winner and NASA could leave it in the dust on August 8. Polls close at 6pm.

Raila is working with IT experts, mostly from Ghana and Germany, to install the tallying system.

More on this: Raila's anti-rigging fix: Opposition will have 450,000 agents across Kenya

Alarmed by NASA's radical vote-protection strategy, police wrote to the IEBC demanding to know how 41,000 polling stations will be manned, lest there be mobs and chaos.

More on this: Raila tallying centre to get results 8 hrs after voting

Source