Kivuitu has been holding discussions with various political, diplomatic and other civil groups on the electoral process. The parties interested in competing include the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Party of National Unity (PNU), Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-Kenya), KADU, and AGANO party.

There are indications that there may also be independent candidates for the elections. There are 222 constituencies in Kenya, and the population stands at 36 million people with a growth of 2 per cent per annum.

Kenyans had their first transitional elections in December 2002, when Mwai Kibaki, the main opposition candidate was elected president by a wide margin beating KANU's Uhuru Kenyatta.

Kivuiti explains: “We have guidelines for the qualification of political parties. We have a period for nominations and after it; they are able to submit the names of candidates. It is not yet time to determine how many candidates will be qualified. It is after the nominations that the commission will be able to know how many candidates will be cleared.”

But two presidential hopeful, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, have expressed skepticism over the independence of the ECK to conduct free and fair, alleging that President Kibaki has imposed members of the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) to work at the ECK with instructions to alter the voter register.

Kivuitu has denied this, saying “there is no truth in what he is saying. Let Raila show us these people and where they are operating from”. On whether such accessions on the credibility of the ECK are worrisome, Kivuitu replied, “Any other thing outside the election law is baseless. It has no foundation, so how can l be worried about politicians?”.

Kivuitu said: “The holding of free and fair elections is a collective effort. Citizens and government have roles to play. It is the duty of government to provide funds and guarantee security during elections and the citizens have a constitutional right to cast their votes.”

Political parties are currently preparing to carry out their primaries in compliance with the ECK calendar. But there are strong indications that many of the political parties that have merged under the Party of National Unity (PNU) have opted to go it alone. Already, some parties in the merger have expressed their desire to contest against the PNU, whose chairman is the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki who is seeking re-election for another term.

Keywords:  kenya_elections