IEBC revoked his clearance. IEBC preparation for general election By the end of clearance, IBEC gazetted a total of 16,098 candidates contesting 1,882 elective slots. IEBC received the first batch of ballot papers on 7 July 2022. The ballot papers were printed by a Greek firm known as Inform P Lykos, situated in Athens, which was awarded the tender worth Ksh 3 billion. The Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) was used as the primary mode of voter verification, with the manual register used as a supplementary when these KIEMS kits fail. This led to a vast discussion across the political spectrum on the possibility of KIEMS being subject to manipulation. Some noted that Smartmatic International, the supplier of the digital register, is not short of controversy. On 21 July 2022, three Venezuelan nationals were intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with what were believed to be sensitive election materials. IEBC released a statement on their social media platform decrying the detention of Smartmatic International staff. Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti released an official statement claiming the two Venezuelan nationals traveled with expired passports, were in possession of 'questionable' material and were on a business trip. The foreigners had stickers that were to be used in the election. IEBC explained that the stickers had information on the polling station, polling centre, ward, constituency and county. On 28 July 2022, following their public spat, DCI and IEBC ended their row, amicably agreeing that the issue with the stickers had been solved. General elections On 8 August 2022, IEBC suspended the gubernatorial elections in Kakamega and Mombasa counties, as well as the parliamentary polls for Pokot South, Rongai and Kacheliba constituencies. Chebukati noted that the ballot papers for affected areas had errors, including pictures for candidates and details. Apart from the mentioned counties and constituencies, IEBC also suspended elections in five wards over candidates' deaths. Voters in the affected areas voted on 23 August 2022. On election day, voting in Eldas Constituency of Wajir County was postponed to 10 August 2022 due to security concerns. This was after the constituency returning officer was hospitalised after being shot in the leg. The voting exercise was greatly affected by the failure of the KIEMS kits to pick voters' fingerprints. IEBC allowed the use of manual register in parts of Kakamega and Makueni counties after a blight of hitches from the