IEBC has sacked four Homa Bay officials allegedly found meeting two candidates at a residential home on Sunday.
IEBC said they will announce their replacement on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
The four, who include a presiding officer of a polling station in Kanyadoto ward, two deputy presiding officers of polling stations in Kanyadoto ward and a clerk of a polling station in the neighbouring Kwabwai ward, were dismissed after they were found in an outlawed meeting.
They were meeting at the home of an aspiring MCA in Riat in Kanyikela ward. They were allegedly planning to stuff ballot papers into ballot boxes in favour of certain candidates of a political party.
On Monday, the commission through Homa Bay IEBC returning officer Fredrick Apopa disqualified the officials over the offence.
Apopa said the officials were fires because they participated in an unlawful meeting.
”We’re hiring other people to replace the vacancies created by the dismissed individuals. They can no longer be trusted,” Apopa said.
The IEBC officer said the sacked individuals are reported to have been meeting politicians like an MCA and a parliamentary aspirant from a political party in Ndhiwa constituency.
He said they still don’t know what the four had been discussing in their meetings.
The matter came to the public after some concerned residents stormed the home, and frog-matched the suspects before calling the police to arrest them.
They were later taken to Ndhiwa police station for interrogation.
“We’re working together with the police to investigate them. Appropriate action will be taken against them for attempting to engage in electoral malpractice,” Apopa said.
Some of the people who will be questioned are residents who took the officials to Ndhiwa police station. The outcome of the investigation will determine whether they will be charged.
Other officials from the commission who were in the meeting managed to escape after seeing the crowd surging towards the home.
