Issack says Kethi was properly cleared

INDEPENDENT Electoral and Boundaries Commission chair Ahmed Issack confirmed yesterday that Kethi Kilonzo was properly cleared as the Wiper candidate in the Makueni by election. Issack told the Star that the law is clear that the County Returning Officer Salad Boru has the final say on the eligibility of Kethi to contest. He said the commission will only review the decision of Boru if any challenge is lodged within the statutory seven days. “So far, I am not aware of any complaint filed with the commission on the matter. We can only be involved at that stage but for now, the law is clear that I am only a returning officer for the presidential contest,” Issack said on phone. Asked if indeed Kethi is registered, Issack said he did not wish to pronounce himself on the matter. Yesterday, a local radio station had tweeted that there was trouble at the commission over Kethi’s Thursday clearance. Speaking to the Star earlier on, the commission’s director in charge of voter registration Immaculate Kassait said the decision of the county returning officer was final. “Beyond that is a judicial process. The rest is speculation and the commission does not deal in speculation,” Kassait said. She too refused to be dragged into a discussion of whether Kethi is registered. Commission’s public communications manager Tabitha Mutemi said Kethi was cleared to run for the seat after meeting all requirements. She dismissed the claims of the radio stations as baseless and unverified rumors. “We only handed her a certificate yesterday how can the commission turn around on the basis of rumors? We cannot run the commission through the media, really,” she said. On Thursday, Kethi walked into the Makueni Multi-Purpose Hall in Wote armed with all necessary papers including her voters card. Initially, her name could not be traced using the biometric voter registration machine at the venue. IEBC officials were left consulting and after a short while, they publicly handed her the clearance certificate. “I am presenting this clearance certificate to Kethi to vie the Makueni senate seat during the coming by election slated for July 22. This certificate is valid. It was our burden to prove that everything was right,” Boru said. He advised those who have issues with her clearance to file their complaints with the IEBC resolution committees within the next seven days. Earlier in the week, Jubilee had written to the IEBC claiming she is not a registered voter and warning against clearing her. Disqus seems to be taking longer than usual. Reload? L