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Nairobi – The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has yet again put the electoral commission on the spot over irregularities in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
Kalonzo Musyoka, a co-principal of the coalition claimed that Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits issued to National Youth Service (NYS) by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for registering its staff are being misused.
NYS started a biometric registration exercise of young people working in slum upgrading projects late January to weed out ghost workers, in 69 constituencies where it conducts youth empowerment programmes.
Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Kalonzo said the parallel NYS biometric registration may be a scheme to disenfranchise their supporters, as already some youths who participated in NYS Programs and wanted to register as voters have been turned away after it emerged that they were already enlisted.
“We have individuals who never previously registered as voters. But when they showed up to register in the ongoing exercise, they found their details had already been entered in the system,” said the Wiper party leader.
“The details in the system not only indicate that they had not only registered but even voted in the previous elections,” added Kalonzo, who said they demand a complete disclosure from IEBC why people who had not registered are in their database.
“The integrity of the ongoing exercise is in serious doubts, just like the integrity of IEBC Itself. We need a thorough audit of the system to establish how deep this scam is, and who is responsible for it. Those at the helm of IEBC should take full responsibility for this scam,” emphasized Kalonzo.
He added: “Confidence building is critical for the commission. If this is not prioritized, and IEBC seems not to be in a hurry to do this, elections will continue to be viewed with suspicions and allegations of vote tempering.
Four of the five complainants paraded at the press briefing had sworn affidavits in which they pointed fingers at IEBC for irregularly enlisting them as voters.
Speaking to News24, 27-year-old Roselyn Atelo Kuya, who wanted to register for the first time said she was told by IEBC clerks at Ndururuno Primary School in Mathare constituency that she was already a voter registered in Juja Constituency.
“They could not explain to me how it happened but showed me my name without a picture in their database. I once shared my biometric details at NYS in Kiandutu slums on January 28, when we were asked by the service to register afresh,” she explained.
The three others complained that their details appear in the register, with ID numbers of people they do not know.
