Fresh demands: Azimio boss Raila Odinga now wants IEBC devolved

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya leader Raila Odinga has hinted at the opposition outfits’ proposals to initiate far reaching reforms to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Speaking during a town hall meeting in Murang’a on Thursday, the Azimio leader said the coalition party wants IEBC to be devolved and 47 electoral units established where results will be final.

This is a paradigm shift from the current set-up, where results are collected from all the 290 constituencies and tallied at the Bomas of Kenya, which is the national tallying centre.

“Tunataka kukubaliana vile tutafanya mabadiliko kwa IEBC...tunataka IEBC moja ikuwe hapa Murang’a County...ile matokeo inatangazwa hapa Murang’a inakuwa final...ingine ikuwe Kiambu, Laikipia na kadhalika...iwe 47,” he said.

Odinga’s proposal is a shift from the way IEBC conducts its presidential election where the national tallying centre receives results from all the polling stations and declares the winner.

The Azimio boss now wants the national tallying centre to only tally results declared from the 47 devolved regional IEBC tallying centres.

“Hatutaki Wakenya tena warudi kwa uchaguzi baada ya kupiga kura inabadilishwa,” said Odinga.

Odinga also spoke of a plan to re-introduce the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional changes that look into the division of revenue among counties.

“Tunataka pia ile proposal tuliweka kwa BBI kuwa ‘one man, one vote, one shilling’ irudishwe kwa meza,” he said.

The former Prime Minister, who later addressed a rally at Kenol market, insisted that Azimio’s push for lowering of the cost of living is unstoppable.

“Ninataka bei ya unga ishuke chini…gharama ya maisha irudi chini…wale wafanyikazi wa serikali walipwe vizuri,” he said.

Leaders who accompanied Odinga to Murang’a lauded the proposals and insisted that the opposition leader won the election, hence the need to open IEBC servers used in the 2022 presidential election.

Azimio co-principal and Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua said: “Lazima hiyo server watafungua…kama mkate ni yao tutawaangalia wakikula...”