Raila claims database compromised by former IEBC officials to ensure Jubilee win

dennis kibet

February 1, 2017 4:40 PM

Raila said he had unearthed serious anomalies in the on-going process, bringing into question the integrity of the register being compiled and the figures being released by the IEBC.

Raila Odinga (right) during an inspection of the Mass Voter Registration (MVR) exercise at Lavington Primary School.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has claimed that former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials have intentionally doctored the commission’s software to ensure Jubilee strongholds register more voters.

During an inspection of the Mass Voter Registration (MVR) exercise at Lavington Primary School in Nairobi, Raila said he had unearthed serious anomalies in the on-going process, bringing into question the integrity of the register being compiled and the figures being released by the IEBC.

“Our investigation has confirmed that numbers that do not qualify as identity card numbers have been used to register voters in parts of the country and that is responsible for what is being presented as high turnout in voter registration in those regions,” Raila said.

According to the former Prime Minister, his team’s random check revealed that some numbers have been used as national identification cards to register voters.

“The IEBC database has been manipulated to ensure that the cell that has the document identification number can take any numbers instead of the eight (8) numerical national ID or seven numbers if a passport is used,” Raila said.

Government involvement

He further said that he had information that the doctoring exercise is currently being carried out in homes of a senior government official and the office of a former cabinet secretary and that the total number of people registered in the IEBC database using different combinations is estimated to be in the thousands.

“A visit to any registration centre countrywide will reveal the above scandal is being carried out in a central location so long as one has the BVR kit linked to the IEBC database,” he added.

Results released by the IEBC after the first week of the MVR exercise, showed President Uhuru Kenyatta taking an early lead as traditional perceived strongholds of the Jubilee Party recorded impressive numbers compared to those of the opposition.

On Tuesday, the IEBC said they had only realised a 53.94 percent of the second week’s target after announcing only 1,539, 879 new voters have registered representing only 25 percent of the upper target of six million voters.

dennis kibet