Speaking at the Bomas of Kenya, where the process is being conducted, Chebukati noted that the commission intends to wind up on the process but agents are stalling their pace.
He warned that any agent found indulging in the cautioned activity will be dismissed from their premise.
“We’re not moving as fast as we should. This process should be concluded as soon as possible. We advise that agents cannot proceed in the manner that which we are proceeding, its as if we are doing a forensic audit,” said Chebukati.
“Please do not interrogate the returning officer. If there are any cases of disruption we shall remove you from this tallying centre.”
Chebukati further clarified that agents are not supposed to engage with any official involved in the process and if any matters arise they should be addressed to him directly.
He advised them to play their role in the process – which is to observe and document what is going as enshrined in the Elections act of 2011.
“While the commission acknowledges that agents are an important component of an election but we must also understand the role of agents at the national tallying centre,” said Chebukati.
“Their role is restricted to the observation of the tallying process and signing of relevant statutory forms. In this respect agents are not part of the receiving team however statutory forms are availed to them to verify that the results received from the polling stations mirror the ones by the commission’s tallying centre,” he added.
The verification process is to oversee the collation of Forms 34A and 34B.
So far only 130 returning officers have arrived at the premise with the physical forms of the documents. The commission now awaits 160 more forms plus one from diaspora regions.
A total of 290 plus 1 Forms 34A and 34B from all the 290 constituencies will be arriving at the premise to allow verification and validation of results.
