IEBC voter register cleanup: Voter registered 47 times, many transferred illegally

With preparations for the August elections in top gear, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has launched investigations amid glaring violations and gross misconduct by a section of its officials.

This is after it emerged that many voters had been transferred illegally while other voters had registered more than once.

Among the outstanding cases cited by the commission’s chairperson, Wafula Chebukati on Friday, June 2 is that where a voter was registered 47 times using the same identification document, against the law.

Chebukati also revealed that the commission had also identified instances where some voters were registered using ID cards that did not belong to them.

"There were 226,143 records that do not match with the National Registration Bureau and the Department of Immigration Services. Meaning that there were IDs and passport reference documents that matched with the National Registration Bureau and Department of Immigration Services but the names recorded in our database and the other database were not agreeing." IEBC explained.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati with Commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati with Commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu Pulse Live Kenya

In light of the revelations, three IEBC staff are under investigations for their alleged involvement in the unprocedural transfer of voters as was established by the recent audit of the voters register.

"We are actually finalizing investigations on about 3 officers and they will be apprehended to face the law and that should be done in the course of the week," Chebukati confirmed.

The commission assured Kenyans that the unprocedural transfer of voters will be corrected with those affected returned to their correct voting stations before August elections.

According to IEBC CEO, Marjan Hussein Marjan, 4,000 voters who registered twice at different polling stations may also be prosecuted.

"Individuals who have registered more than once with IDs and passport numbers and ideally I would classify them as crooks. Out of that, we have managed to handle 59 per cent of the recorded 4,757 voters," Marjan explained.