Hitches slow down the registration of voters

By Standard Team

NAIROBI, KENYA, Nov. 22 - Password expiry on Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits caused delays in the ongoing voter registration countrywide.

Apparently, the passwords on the kits were supposed to be renewed 40 days after the date they left the factory but this did not happen due to delays in their shipment.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said it sent its technicians to renew the passwords on the kits at various centres even as the registration process continues.

“The problem is with all of the kits because they arrived late and they were manufactured on different days until they were delivered,” said a regional elections coordinator.

He said the kits could not be reconfigured at the Commission’s holding point in Kasarani because of the hurry to deliver them to all parts of the country for registration to commence.

Apart from the password expiry, cloudy skies in some areas limited the sunlight available to power solar batteries in the kits, while transportation logistics hampered registration in many parts of the country.

Callers from Wajir South told The Standard that no registration had taken place at Higla Post, Ibrahim Urie, Garille, Guletbeere, Hambalash and Handaki and they had not been informed what was happening.

Similar reports were received from some polling stations in Kilgoris, Bomet, Mogotio, West Pokot and parts of Turkana all in the vast Rift Valley.

Registration of voters in 11 polling stations in Kitengela also failed to kick off Thursday because IEBC mistakenly transferred two polling stations to a different ward.

The registration was halted after IEBC realised that it had wrongly moved Kitengela Primary School and Noonkopir Secondary polling stations from Oloosirkon/Sholinke ward to Kitengela/Ololoitikoshi ward.

Kajiado East IEBC coordinator, Mrs Jennifer Mugambi said they must adhere to the law by correcting the mistake and publishing the same in the Kenya Gazette.

Voters in Ikolomani constituency also went through anxious moments on Tuesday until Thursday when technicians installed new passwords to make the kits operational.

IEBC chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan admitted that delays had been reported from various parts of the country, but assured that they were all being dealt with expeditiously.

“There are challenges in many places across the country but I’m waiting for a consolidated report before I can give you a comprehensive assessment of the situation,” said Issack.

Thursday Issack told The Standard they were experiencing a slow turnout in Coast province, but the exercise was picking up as the registration progressed.

He said very high turnouts were seen in the Mount Kenya region, Nakuru and Machakos areas.

Just over 100, 000 people have registered as voters in Central Kenya according to figures obtained from the IEBC. Murang’a and Kiambu were leading with over 55, 000 people registered.

Figures released on Tuesday showed that in Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Nyandarua just over 30, 000 people had registered.

Challenge

Speaking at a press briefing at Nyeri Municipal social hall, regional IEBC coordinator, Mr Patrick Odame said the Commission was expecting to register 846,000 voters in the three counties.

In Nairobi, Hassan said some polling stations in Machakos were registering over 150 people daily because all systems were operating smoothly and voters were turning up in large numbers.

The Commission had expected to register an average of 51 people daily in all polling stations across the country, but the Machakos figures had tripled.

“It is true we have had software failures and rains in Wajir and Tana River where we have been forced to airlift the materials, but the biggest challenge is how to register voters in Tana River who moved from villages to IDP camps,” said Issack.

The commission has now decided to take the kits to the camps in anticipation that those who register will be able to return to their homes in March to vote once normalcy returns in the area.

In Garissa where the exercise was stopped because of violence following the killing of three soldiers, Issack said registration was now going on after the soldiers left the town for Kismayu. One cannot operate the BVR kits unless he or she is authorised to do so and only specific officers were given access to operate them.

“The BVR kit locks itself after four days as a security measure, but I think we were too cautious. We should have perhaps opened them for the whole month,” said Issack.

He also cautioned politicians to desist from attempts to influence the registration process after a senior politician was allegedly said to have advised Narok residents not to register in the area if they were not born there.

In the North Rift, regional elections coordinator Mr Solomon Mudanya expressed satisfaction at the good voter turnout in the region.

He said the process was going on well, as the problems passwords experienced on Monday had been resolved.  “I am really impressed by the turnout, people are really out to be registered. I think it has everything to do with the immense publicity the media has given the exercise and excitement surrounding the technology,” he said.

The official said all the necessary materials for the process had arrived at the designated stations and the exercise would hit its peak in the next two days if the rate of turnout continued.

In Kitengela, Mugambi said the gazettement is supposed to be done before the end of the week, contrary to her submission on Tuesday that registration in the 11 polling stations would have had to start Thursday.

More leaders came out to condemn the delay of voter registration saying the mistake by the IEBC could lock out many from registering, a claim the Commission dismissed.

This comes after a group of councilors from Ooloosirkon/Kitengela ward protested the mix-up of polling stations in the two wards of Kitengela and Oloosirkoon/Sholinke.

Elsewhere in Enchorro Emuny in Ngong, Kajiado North, an 82 year-old man was turned away after a BVR kit failed to detect his fingerprints.

IEBC clerks at the station tried their best several times but failed to register Mr Ole Nzuka, even after he washed his hands.

Mr Nzuka who had trekked for more than 10 kilometers from Kibiku area to register in Ngong as a voter told The Standard, that he was under medication yet he failed to register.

“I will go back home and come back again because I want to be registered as a voter as early as possible before the expiry of 30 days period,” Mr. Nzuka said with a low tone.

– Additional reports by Philip Mwakio and Job Weru