Kenya: Police fire teargas at Opposition leaders during protest at IEBC offices
Kenyan police fired teargas into a crowd of opposition leaders and their supporters who were marching on the office of the country’s electoral commission to demand its disbandment ahead of next year’s election.
Opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula demanded the dissolution of the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over the weekend and said they would storm its offices to eject its commissioners.
One of the protesters attempted to climb the gates before they were dispersed by police.
Raila earlier accused the Jubilee government and the IEBC of arguing against reforms for a democratic electoral system.
The Cord leader said changes being pushed by the Opposition are aimed at reflecting the will of members of the public.
National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale said Cord was staging a constitutional coup as the electoral body cannot be disbanded by storming the offices.
Duale said the road map for disbanding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is provided in Article 251 of the constitution.
