Kenyas to Pay Dearly as Presidential Candidates Allocated At Least 10 Bodyguards Each

The government will provide all the presidential candidates cleared by IEBC to contest in the august polls with at least 10 armed police officers.

In the next two months leading up to the General Election, all the qualified candidates and their running mates will be flanked by five policers as they move across the country in their last-minute campaigns. The other five police officers will be posted to man their homes and offices on a 24-hour basis and divided into two shifts.

This is in line with the constitution of Kenya, which calls on the state to accord tight security to all the candidates and their running mates, their offices, and homes from the date of clearance by IEBC to the conclusion of the General Election.

Over 2000 police officers from the General Service Unit, Kenya Police, Administration Police, and Prisons Service have been set aside for the exercise. They are expected to be deployed to the candidates once IEBC gazettes them on Wednesday 8.

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The candidates and their running mates are expected to provide logistics to the officers seconded to them. These include sentry rooms and vehicles for their movements.

The constitution of Kenya describes the security of presidential candidates as a very serious matter during the election, highlighting grounds on which the elections can be recalled owing to security issues.

For instance, if a presidential candidate or deputy dies on or before the scheduled election date, the constitution calls for the cancellation of the presidential election. At the same time, when a candidate who would have been entitled to be declared elected as President dies before being declared, the election can be canceled and a fresh presidential election conducted within 60 days after the date set for the previous presidential election.

So far, IEBC has cleared five presidential candidates to contest for presidency in the August polls. They include Roots party leader George Wajackoyah, Mr. David Mwaura Waihiga (Agano party), Mr. Walter Mong’are (Umoja Summit party), and Dr. William Samoei Ruto (UDA) and Raila Amollo Odinga (ODM and Azmio la Umoja party leader).