Saturday, July 23, 2022 – The standoff that saw three Venezuelans arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with election materials has exposed the simmering disquiet at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
While weighing in on the matter, IEBC Commissioner Francis Wanderi thanked the police for their alertness.
Wanderi, who was addressing a media summit on Friday, explained that they have been cooperating with the police as they prepare for the coming polls.
He noted that the arrested official at JKIA was joining two of his other colleagues who had arrived in the country to set up key technology infrastructure.
“The person who was coming from Venezuela was joining members of the team here so he came with those stickers. Stickers are not strategic election material. I commend the police officers because we are working together to ensure that anything that is coming to the country regarding election material must be correct.”
“That is part of our cooperation, there is no conflict. The police are doing their work and the commission is doing its work,” Wanderi said.
The comments are a sharp contrast to what IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati said in a press release Thursday night.
Chebukati appeared to fault the State for arresting the officials yet they had explained to them their whereabouts.
Chebukati said the three Venezuelans arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport are “are key personnel responsible for deployment and management of election technology infrastructure”.
He expressed disappointment in the arrest, terming their detention as tantamount to intimidation.
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