Raila still in the ballot for October 26 poll, IEBC says

National Super Alliance Presidential candidate Raila Odinga will be on the October 26 presidential ballot paper despite announcing on Tuesday that he had withdrawn from the repeat poll, the electoral commission has stated.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Wednesday said that Raila had not officially pulled out of the race as he was yet to sign Form 24A as required in the electoral regulations.

“We note that the Rt. Honorable Raila Odinga and his running mate sent a letter dated 10^th October 2017 indicating that they had decided to withdraw from the fresh Presidential election. They, however, have not submitted the statutory Form 24A,” the IEBC noted in a statement obtained by Citizen Digital.

The IEBC added: “Once the commission receives the requisite Notice from any of the candidates, it will process the same in accordance with the requisite provision of the law.”

READ: Raila afraid of defeat, Ruto claims

However, NASA Secretariat head Norman Magaya has rubbished IEBC’s stand that Raila needed to have signed Form 24A to authenticate his withdrawal from the election.

According to Magaya, the requirement for one to sign Form 24A does not apply in the context of the election at hand.

Following a meeting at the Bomas of Kenya on Wednesday, the electoral commission agreed to comply with the High Court order directing that other candidates who participated in the August presidential poll be allowed to take part in the repeat election.

“It is the commission’s position that the candidates for the fresh presidential election scheduled for October 26, 2017 shall include all the eight candidates who participated in the 8th August presidential election,” part of the statement read.

IEBC maintained that the repeat election would go on as planned even as the opposition insists a new presidential election must be conducted within 90 days preceded by fresh party nominations.

In announcing his decision to quit the race to State House with only 14 days to go, Mr Odinga accused the electoral commission acting in bad faith and failing to address NASA’s  “irreducible minimum” demands.

The Opposition leader stated that the NASA coalition had resolved to abandon the October 26 election calling on the IEBC to conduct a fresh election preceded by party nominations.