We are not working with Koreans to rig next year’s election – Issack Hassan

Chairman of IEBC Isaack Hassan. PHOTO/FILE

We are not working with Koreans to rig next year’s election – Issack Hassan

The electoral commission has refuted claims published by The Standard that it is working with a Korean institution to rig the upcoming general elections.

In a statement to newsrooms IEBC chair Issack Hassan said that the allegations were baseless.

He said that it is part of CORD plan to spread propaganda by discrediting the commission.

CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka claimed that a commissioner with the electoral body had visited Korea to seek help on programming the Biometric Voting Registers (BVRs) in readiness for election tampering.

The article was titled: Iebc has enlisted Koreans to rig election, Cord leaders claim.

Hassan also said that commissioner Thomas Letangule, who was alleged to have taken the BVR kits to Korea for “tampering in readiness for elections,” traveled to Seoul to observe Korean parliamentary elections under the auspices of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).

“IEBC is a member of A-WEB, with which it has signed a memorandum of understanding on training and capacity building in election management,” he said.

“Staff withing the commission have benefited from training and collaboration with 160 other electoral management bodies worldwide that A-WEB brings together,” Hassan said.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission boss said that the remarks made by Cord co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka not only hurt the relationship we have nurtured with A-WEB for over two years, but also runs against the CORD Coalitions’ own calls for improvement of the IEBC capacity to manage elections.

Kalonzo made the remarks during their second public demonstration in Nairobi demanding the removal of IEBC commissioners before next year’s election yesterday.

The coalition has vowed not to stop their weekly protests until the commission is reconstituted.