Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has recruited 295 Presiding Officers (POs) and 2,021 polling clerks in Naivasha Constituency as part of the preparations for the August 9 General Elections.
Speaking to KNA, Naivasha Constituency IEBC Returning Officer (RO); Ms. Agnes Muriuki said 287 presiding officers will man the 287 polling stations in the constituency while the remaining eight POs will be stationed at the tallying centre.
She further noted similar number of Deputy Presiding officers (DPOs) have been recruited to help man the 287 polling stations.
The RO also said that each polling station will have seven polling clerks who will be performing different roles during the Election Day.
Muriuki said the recruitment went on smoothly without any hitches except for a few incidences where one or two young people tried to present academic papers that were not authentic or altered and they were now gearing for the trainings which start next week.
The trainings start with that of the of the Returning Officers(ROs) and their deputies who will in turn train the Presiding Officers (POs) and their deputies before the training goes to the polling clerks.
The qualifications for POs was a degree or Diploma in any field with that of polling clerks being an aggregate of C- (C Minus ) and above in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Last month, IEBC cleared 10 aspirants to vie for the Naivasha parliamentary seat in the coming General Elections.
According to Muriuki six of the aspirants were cleared to vie for the Naivasha parliamentary seat on political party tickets.
The R.O. said they cleared 67 aspirants to fight it out for the eight seats of Member of the County Assembly (MCA) in Naivasha Constituency as independents and on various political parties.
Latest data from IEBC shows Naivasha Constituency has 157,128 registered voters and 287 polling stations, serving the eight electoral wards in the constituency.
The country goes to polls on August 9 with over 22 million registered voters expected to elect their leaders at six levels which include; the presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial, county women representatives, members of parliament and members of county assemblies.
By Mabel Keya –Shikuku
