Home » William Ruto hit hardest as IEBC bans politicians from Harambees

William Ruto hit hardest as IEBC bans politicians from Harambees

by Enock Ndayala

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has banned politicians from participating in Harambees, a move that is expected to curb aspirants from influencing voters.

According to IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati, aspirants will be committing an electoral offense by attending directly or contributing to public Harambees from Thursday, December 9, 2021.

“After Thursday, December 9, participating in Harambees will be an election offense,” Wafula Chebukati said on Wednesday, December 1 in a statement seen by Kivumbi.co.ke.

William Ruto hit hardest as IEBC bans politicians from Harambees
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has banned politicians from participating in Harambees, a move that is expected to curb aspirants from influencing voters.

Chebukati who was appearing before the Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) to shed more light on the agency’s preparedness to run the 2022 election warned that those who would defy the order will be disqualified from participating in elections in accordance with Section 26 of the IEBC Act.

“A person who directly or indirectly participates in any manner in public fundraising within 8 months preceding a General Election or during the election period will be disqualified from contesting in the election held during the election year,” he said.

Chebukati stated that the aspirants can however are free to hold fundraisers for their own campaigns ahead of the 2022 General Election.

“Exception however from subsection 2 of section 26 of the IEBC Act, aspirants are allowed to hold a party or individual fundraisers for their campaigns,” he added.

It is understood that of all the presidential hopefuls, Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto might be the hardest hit by the new regulation his past conduct is anything to go by.

Ruto’s constant donations in church fundraisers has been a topic of concern even to his opponents who regularly question the source of his generous donations.

Rarely are the other presidential hopefuls and candidates heard of seen participating in fundraisers like Ruto does.

This comes barely days after the polls agency cautioned politicians engaged in early 2022 campaigns.

In a statement on Friday, November 19, the IEBC chairman urged all politicians to refrain from early campaigns stating that early campaigns are undesirable and may upset the political environment in the lead-up to the upcoming General Election.

“The commission urges all political parties and aspirants to refrain from engaging in early campaigns prior to the General Election,” IEBC said.

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