Foreigners, non-eligible citizens registered as voters, Raila claims

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has claimed that there is a grand scheme to inflate the number of registered voters in Jubilee strongholds by allowing foreigners and non-eligible citizens to enlist in the ongoing national mass voter registration.

Mr Odinga claims that the IEBC voter registration software had been re-calibrated to allow applicants with two-digit identity cards to register through collusion, which he alleged was spearhead by former cabinet secretary Davies Chirchir.

In a statement, Odinga claims he unearthed serious anomalies in the on-going voter registration that bring to question the integrity of the register being compiled and the figures being released by the IEBC.

While displaying a list of eight registered voters under the two-digit identification numbers, Odinga termed the move as intentional and a ploy to rig the August 8th polls.

“But it is also possible that the names popping up under the fake ID numbers may be non-existent. These could be virtual voters, non-existent human beings being included in the IEBC register to create room for ballot stuffing during elections,” read the statement in part.

The opposition chief now wants the poll body to convene an urgent stakeholders meeting to deliberate on a voter register cleanup in a bid to assure all players in the August polls of integrity in the electoral process.

In a quick rejoinder, the IEBC has sought to assure Kenyans that the voters register is intact and has not been compromised or manipulated as alleged.

In a statement to newsrooms, IEBC boss Wafula Chebukati confirmed that some of the numbers highlighted by the CORD Leader are indeed part of the 128,926 ID numbers that are subject of the ongoing cleanup process.

“For the avoidance of doubt, most of these numbers were keyed into the system during the 2012 registration drive and do not relate to the current Mass Voter Registration campaign. This is a historical issue and should not be used to discredit the ongoing registration drive,” said Chebukati.

“The Commission wishes to assure that the process of cleaning up the register is in good hands. There should be no cause for alarm and Kenyans must focus on registering as voters given that we have only two weeks left.”

On Tuesday, January 24, the former premiere claimed to have intelligence reports linking the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to the alleged registration of foreigners from Ethiopia and Uganda as voters.

Odinga further alleged that the intelligence unit has deployed Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits to Ethiopia and Uganda to register foreigners as voters.

“The agency is also assisting citizens of these neighbouring countries to acquire Kenyan identification documents then helping them cross into Kenya and register as voters,” he claimed.

“The NIS is also interfering with the voter registration process by having youths whose data was collected through the dubious National Youth Service exercises over the last few years and registering them as voters, without their knowledge,” he said.

Raila further alleged that the same tactics were used by the intelligence agency in 2007 and 2013 to deny him victory in the presidential race.