The Electoral Commission has clarified that it is not responsible for security during elections in ensuring a peaceful process.
The EC says it has often been called upon to ensure peace in the electoral process which it believes is solely the mandate of the police.
Briefing Parliament on preparations towards the December polls, the EC boss, Jean Mensa said all security decisions taken by the police in relation to elections are done without recourse to the electoral body.
“It is important to note that whilst we engage under the platform of the election security task force at all levels, National, regional and district. The electoral commission is not responsible for security. Very often we’ve heard that the electoral commission is responsible for security, and we’d like to emphasise that this is a mandate for the security agencies.”
“What we do is to collaborate with them and to provide them with details of all our centers, provide them with details of printing arrangements to enable them work with us and protect the ballot especially when we are transporting these ballots to the regions….The police have full responsibility for security before, during, and after the elections. And they take all their security decisions without recourse to the electoral commission,” she stated.
The EC Chairperson also assured the commission’s commitment to transparency in the polls.
“From the registration to the declaration, our processes are embedded with one key ingredient. And that is transparency, transparency, transparency. As such we will continue to operate in the spirit of transparency, fairness and integrity as embedded in our motto,” she said.
