Sunday, September 2, 2012

Lobby to give proposals to IEBC on diaspora voting


By Stephen Makabila               
After successful diaspora campaigns in China and the UK, an ODM lobby group is developing a position paper to be presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The paper, developed by Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s campaign lobby Friends of Raila (Fora), contains proposals on how best to handle voting by Kenyans in the dispora and will be released in two weeks.
“The views informing the proposals are out of the interaction Fora members have had with Kenyans in the diaspora, including China and UK and those generated locally and dispatched from other locations such as the US,” Fora Secretary General Eliud Owalo said.
The party plans more foreign visits to win the diaspora votes estimated at 3.5 million. Campaigns have been lined up for South Africa, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates within this September and October.
Owalo said those in the diaspora were against voting in the embassies abroad due to distance and likely manipulation of votes by envoys believed to be allied to presidential candidates enjoying State backing.
The position paper makes key proposals on where those in the diaspora should cast their votes, how the tallying process should go in various countries and how the results can be disseminated back to the IEBC in Nairobi.
“We are sure the country will use the biometric voter registration system (BVR) because it’s a government to government deal between Kenya and Canada. What we want is to have acceptable voting logistica to allow those out of the country to vote with ease and without manipulation,” Owalo said.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Eugene Wamalwa will on Tuesday explain to Parliament how the BVR system would be free from fraud to ensure a credible general election.
Although the IEBC is set to register about 16 million fresh voters locally, its yet to be established how the foreign registration would be undertaken and even how those who register will vote.
BVR system
Wamalwa on Thursday said the BVR exercise would kick off from October.
Political observers says while ODM’s position paper will be seeking to address some of the above challenges, it may meet resistance from rival parties, especially those that may read mischief in it.
Owalo said the purpose of foreign visits by Fora are not only to mobilise Kenyans abroad to vote for the Raila, but also to determine the underlying issues the diaspora would wish to be addressed by the next Government.
“Fora, working in close consultation with the Raila Odinga Campaign
Secretariat and the ODM intends to use these issues to help inform the PM’s campaign manifetso,” added Owalo.
Apart from Raila, among those who have shown keen interest in the diaspora vote include Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa, Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth and Gichugu MP Martha Karua.
In May, Kalonzo was in the US where he began his tour with an address to Kenyans in Boston, assuring them he was seeking the presidency to unite the country.



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