Four Officials in Homabay who were to oversea the elections have been laid off.
A decision by the independent electoral and boundaries commission has rendered the four officials jobless.
According to the independent electoral and boundaries commission, the officials had a meeting with a member of county assembly aspirant which was against the law.
The meeting took place at Riat village, Kanyikela ward, Ndhiwa Constituency. Residents of the ward stormed the meeting and pulled out the officials.
The residents reported that the MCA aspirant was to use the four officials to rig votes for him; a statement that has not been confirmed yet.
Other officials who were in attendance managed to escape before they were arrested by the angry crowd.
Fredrick Apopa, the returning officer in Homabay county , reported the incident as breaking the electoral laws.
Fredrick said,” you can not be in a meeting with politicians when the law requires you to be neutral.”
The returning officer, Fredrick Apopa went ahead to state that, the arrested were reported to have been meeting the candidate who is a member of the county assembly candidate before they were caught.
The returning officer however promised the residents that necessary action will be taken against the four officials after the investigations are done.
An electoral offense can attract up to a million shillings fine or a jail term.
In his statement,”The outcome of the investigation will determine whether they will be charged. It will be up to police and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to take legal action against them.”
The arrested officials were given roles of a presiding officer, deputy presiding officer and a clerk.
The returning officer, Fredrick Apopa has stated that the Independent electoral and boundaries commission has underway plans of filling the vacancy. He said that IEBC has a way in which it replaces the dismissed officials.