A section of Kakamega residents have appealed to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to gazette the date for the gubernatorial by-election sooner.
The Residents who held peaceful demonstrations over postponement of the by-election by IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati said the county will be left behind if it stays in an election mood.
After marching around Kakamega town with placards, the residents led by youth leaders visited Kakamega IEBC offices to seek an audience with the County Election Manager Joseph Ayatta.
They appealed to the Election Manager to convince the IEBC chair that the county was peaceful and none among its officers in the county had been intimidated or faced harassment.
The Chair of Youth Movement Kakamega Emmanuel Makokha said the county is peaceful and that as youth they will continue to maintain order until the elections are conducted.
“We agree with Chebukati’s move to postpone the election over threats and profiling of IEBC officers. But we in Kakamega are peaceful, none-among the commission’s officials in the county has been harassed,” he noted.
The Election Manager confirmed that the August General Election in the county was conducted peacefully promising the youth that he will forward their concerns to the commission.
He said the commission is working to ensure that the by-election is held in time for county leaders to embark on serving residents.
The commission postponed the gubernatorial election of Kakamega after the ballot papers for the county and that of Mombasa were mixed up.
The Commission initially set August 23 as the date for the by-election for both counties but the IEBC Chair postponed further to a later date after some commission’s officials faced harassment and threats hence developing fear.
