IEBC resumes voter registration in Migingo Island

IEBC resumes voter registration in Migingo Island

Voter registration has resumed in the disputed Migingo Island, Migori county.

Nyatike Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) coordinator Samuel Ochieng confirmed the resumption of the exercise, after the electoral body wrote to Ugandan authorities to formally inform them of its intention to carry out the exercise.

This comes just two days after IEBC clerks were arrested by Ugandan security officials and later released.

Migori Deputy County Commissioner in charge of Nyatike Sub-County, James Namtala, said he spoke to the Ugandan authorities and reminded them that Migingo is a gazetted polling station in Kenya, and there was no way the crucial exercise would be suspended.

Namtala said he had also spoken to regional security officials in Namaingo District in Uganda.

Ugandan Police in Migingo had halted the voter registration exercise demanding official communication from the Kenyan Government.

IEBC subsequently suspended the mass voter registration exercise temporarily in the disputed Migingo Island, Nyatike after Ugandan security forces arrested its clerks and confiscated their Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) called on the government to deploy Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to Migingo to oversee the voter registration exercise.

Addressing the press on Thursday, the legislators led by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi also asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to clarify whether the 1.5 acre piece of land is in Kenya or Uganda after the arrest of IEBC officials by Ugandan security forces.

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kenya IEBC uganda Migingo Island Voter Registration migingo

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