BVR kits fail to work for second day

By James Munyeki  and James Omoro

Nairobi, Kenya: Voter registration in Laikipia failed to kick off for the second day after some biometric voter registration (BVR) machines failed to work.

This led to protests by a section of the public accusing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of incompetence.

At various polling centres in Rumuruti town, the residents were turned away and advised to return later in the day. Locals who had visited Rumuruti Primary School polling station failed to register as Form A was missing.

They were told to visit the polling station today when the documents will be available from the Nyahururu IEBC office.

A resident Mr Ngure Macharia complained that they had travelled several kilometres and were forced to go back without registering.

He expressed fears that people from pastoral communities may not participate in the exercise due to lack of confidence following the hitches.

“This is the second day and no one has been registered. Do you think these people will ever come back to register again? he posed.

Contacted, area IEBC coordinator Agnes Muriuki said they were working to resolve the hitches.

“These were just some initial hitches and everything will be normal. We have ordered for the forms and they will soon be delivered,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ol Kalou MP Erastus Mureithi has urged the IEBC to issue a programme on how BVR kits will be rotating around constituencies.

Mr Mureithi noted that the constituency has only 36 kits, which are not enough for all polling centres.

And, voter registration was paralysed for the second day at four registration centres in Homa Bay Town Constituency following breakdown of kits.  Homa Bay Town Constituency Elections Co-coordinator Doreen Wawire said the hitch was experienced after laptops failed to recognise their passwords.