The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Ethekon has announced that the commission will summon Kasipul by-election candidates over campaign violence.
Addressing the media on Friday, November 14, Ethekon said IEBC has empaneled a code of conduct committee, which will summon the Kasipul candidates starting Monday next week.
The IEBC chair noted that the formation of the committee follows an assessment conducted in Kasipul by the electoral body’s investigations team.
“On the issue of Kasipul, we are aware, and we have heard reports of incidents of violence. As a commission, immediately after we were notified of the situation in Kasipul, we dispatched our investigations team to the ground. They have concluded their assessment of the situation, and we have that report.
“What we are doing as a commission, guided by the laws of Kenya, we have empaneled the code of conduct enforcement committee, which will commence its work on Monday to summon the candidates in Kasipul and anybody who has information on what happened,” said Ethekon.
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The IEBC chairperson also said the committee is expected to conduct the summons and make a determination within a short time.
“They will conduct the hearing, and within the shortest time possible, we will make a determination on what needs to be done in as far as addressing the incidents in Kasipul,” he added.
Further, Ethekon assured the public that IEBC has the necessary tools to use if candidates participating in the upcoming by-election are found to be in breach of the electoral code of conduct.
“I want to assure Kenyans that we have a range of tools to deploy and to use where necessary, where candidates participating in these byelections are found to be in breach of the electoral code of conduct,” the IEBC Chairperson stated.
This comes days after 2 people were killed and several others injured in Kasipul after a group of suspected goons raided a rally held in Central Kasipul by ODM candidate Boyd Were.
Boyd accused his main competitor, Philip Aroko, of orchestrating the violence.
Aroko returned the blame to Boyd, accusing his team of using violence to intimidate his camp.
Chaos was witnessed in Kasipoula again on November 12 after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided Boyd’s home as they attempted to arrest suspects linked to the recent killing of two youths.
The operation resulted in three DCI officers being injured after they were ambushed by a mob while arresting 5 suspects in the homestead.
During the chaos, the five suspects who had been arrested managed to escape.
The injured officers were rushed to Rachuonyo South Sub-County Hospital for treatment.
Kasipul is among the six constituencies awaiting MP by-elections on November 27.
The seat fell vacant following the death of MP Ong'ondo Were, who was killed by gunmen on April 30.
