UDA Takes IEBC To Court On Elections Eve
The commission had initially said that it would only use the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits during the Tuesday, August 9 poll.
Marvin Chege 
UPDATE 5.28 pm: The Court of Appeal has temporarily suspended the High Court ruling on the use of the manual register during the Tuesday, August 9 poll, pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party had filed a petition against the High Court order compelling IEBC to use the manual register to complement the KIEMS kits.
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party has contested the High Court's order to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to use the manual register to identify voters in the August 9 general elections.
UDA, led by Deputy President William Ruto, wants IEBC to only rely on the electronic voter register to identify the voters in the polling exercise, further arguing that the use of a manual register puts the integrity of the polls at risk of being compromised.
The commission had initially said that it would only use the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits during the Tuesday, August 9 poll.
However, the High Court ordered the IEBC to incorporate the manual register in the voting process, a directive they have since agreed to.
The move to include manual registers as a backup was supported by the proponents of the Azimio la Umoja coalition while UDA called for a purely electronic register. This now puts the two coalitions on a collision course with less than 12 hours to the August 9 general elections.
“We shall now deploy the printed register of voters at the polling stations where the names of the voters shall be crossed out after identification of voters using the KIEMs Kit."
"The Commission commits to adhere to the rule of law and will facilitate the realisation of political rights of Kenyans as is capitulated in Article 38 of the constitution in order to deliver a free, fair and credible election," Chebukati stated at the time.
The Azimio coalition led by Raila Odinga had called for mandatory implementation of the manual register, failure to which he would boycott the elections.
He had claimed that he received information from reliable sources that Chebukati and his team were linked to a plot to print excess ballot papers in a neighbouring country and sneak them into Kenya on election day.
However, he said that he cannot and will not boycott the elections, assuring supporters in Kirinyaga County on Thursday, July 7 where he took his campaigns, that he would win the elections.
"We shall not and cannot boycott the elections. We are not cowards. But we want to tell the IEBC don't dare steal the elections...Martha and Raila will take part in the elections and we shall win," he said.
He added that he only made the comments to prevent any rogue IEBC officials from influencing the results of the presidential elections with sinister motives.
While alongside his running mate, Martha Karua and local leaders plus senior government representatives, Raila bragged that he has a huge fan base across the country which sets him apart from his presidential opponents.
Ruto on his side, during a rally in Marsabit County on the same day, urged him to decide on whether he wanted to participate in the polls or not.
