Kenyan telecoms giant Safaricom denies Odinga's claims over involvement in election fraud

godfred akoto

September 27, 2017 8:51 AM

Kenya's leading telco was put in the eye of the election storm after claims from the opposition leader,Raila Odinga

Leading Kenyan telco Safaricom has come out swinging after it was accused by the Kenyan opposition of colluding with the governing Jubilee party and the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) to rig the August 8 election.

According to opposition leader Raila Odinga, Safaricom transmitted results from polling stations to the servers of the French company that handled data OT-Morpho without ensuring that the IEBC also received the same data. The telecoms giant was also accused of having prior knowledge of the alleged theft of 100 result transmission devices.

Responding to the allegation in a press statement signed by its CEO Bob Collymore, Safaricom said his company was ready to face investigations over their conduct during the elections and accused NASA of putting the lives of members of its staff in danger.

“Contrary to what is alleged in the NASA statement, results from KIEMS kits from Safaricom zones, were transmitted and are on the IEBC portal.”

“Safari com is deeply concerned that the NASA statement has recklessly gone ahead to mention the innocent Safaricom staff members needlessly endangering them and their families”.

There has been mounting tension in several parts of Kenya after demonstrations on Tuesday by supporters of Raila Odinga,urging for the resignation or removal of several key members of the IEBC before the 26 October dat set for the new election by the Supreme Court of the country.

godfred akoto