Kenya’s electoral commission falters
The suspension of voting in four areas, including in some of most closely watched gubernatorial races, is the sort of news the electoral commission chairman would have not wanted to announce on the eve of a consequential general election.
Wafula Chebukati already suffers from a crisis of confidence after the presidential election he was in charge of five years ago was annulled and re-run.
Tuesday’s election was meant to redeem him, but after the stream of concerning news today, his task just got harder.
In the last few hours Mr Chebukati has had to dismiss several electoral officials because of alleged improper meetings with candidates, a vehicle carrying voting material was attacked by the public and items damaged, and a kit that was to be used to verify voters and send results has been reported missing in another region.
He has sought to reassure Kenyans that the commission was prepared to run the election but his words now ring hollow.
If the administrative problems continue to mount in the hours ahead and become especially acute when polls open on Tuesday, then the electoral commission will have a full blown crisis on its hand.
At the moment, many Kenyans are hoping that the day’s events were an aberration and that the commission will be up to the task to deliver a fair and credible election.
source: bbc
