Deputy President William Ruto has criticized a Bill seeking to ban live-streaming of presidential election results.
In a statement shared on his social media pages on Thursday, the country’s second in command castigated the sponsors of the Bill accusing them of an attempt to rig the August General Election.
He indicated high ranking officials are plotting to install a “puppet” on the Kenyan electorate through un-ending election law amendments.
Ruto termed the plot as illegal and evil, further vowing to ensure it fails.
“The never-ending onslaught through election law amendments is a choreographed attempt to install a puppet on the Kenyan electorate and sabotage our freedom of choice and hard-earned democracy. The plan is evil and must fail. The people have resoundingly said hatupangwingwi.
“The desperate efforts to install project kitendawili by forceful, illegal, undemocratic & unconstitutional means portends a troubled future for Kenya, its democracy, the rule of law, freedom of its citizens and, ultimately, everyone’s well-being,” Ruto said while accusing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his men of an attempt to force ODM leader Raila Odinga on the electorate.
Read: Showdown Looming In Parliament As State Seeks To Ban Livestreaming Of Presidential Results
He added: “The assaults on the Constitution through reckless legislative and administrative sleights off-hand, by dark forces operating in shadows, are fundamental ingredients of a coup — the sovereignty of the people of Kenya is under grave threat.”
The never-ending onslaught through election law amendments is a choreographed attempt to install a puppet on the Kenyan electorate and sabotage our freedom of choice and hard-earned democracy. The plan is evil and must fail. The people have resoundingly said HATUPANGWINGWI. pic.twitter.com/3UD9yDd37Q
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) February 3, 2022
The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022, sponsored by the state was introduced to the National Assembly by Majority Leader Amos Kimunya.
The government is seeking to amend the law to pave way for both manual and electronic transmission of the poll results in the August 9 General Election.
Under the current law, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is required to provide information and establish a mechanism for the live streaming of results as announced at the polling stations.
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Further, the commission is under obligation to use the results announced at the polling station and transmitted electronically to the national tallying centre.
In the proposed law, president officers would be required to take a photo of the results declared at the polling station and transmit the image electronically to the national tallying centre. The officers would also be required to physically deliver the results to the constituency tallying centre.
A constituency returning officer is then required to tally the results and transmit them electronically to the national tallying centre.
“The constituency returning officer shall collate the results in the prescribed form – Form 34B – and deliver the results in person from the polling station to the national tallying centre, together with the collated form,” the Bill reads.
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The proposed law also seeks to compel IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati to only declare the presidential results after receiving results from all the 290 constituencies.
The current law allows the IEBC boss to declare the results if the remaining results won’t affect the overall tally.
The push to amend the election laws comes weeks after the DP’s allies and their counterparts allied to the Head of State and Odinga locked horns over the controversial Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill sailed through despite a spirited fight by the DP’s hustler camp.
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