Leave no room for any Kenyan to feel left out of 2017 electoral roll

In light of revelations that keep cropping up, there is little doubt that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) did not measure up to public expectation in the 2013 General Election. From missing forms, dysfunctional voter registration machines, wrongful procurement to delayed receipt of already paid-for material and allegations of corruption in printing electoral material by a British firm Smith and Ouzman, IEBC's credibility has been dented.

An internal audit done by a firm hired by the IEBC has revealed anomalies that made it impossible for millions of Kenyans to exercise their democratic right to participate in elections. Besides a chaotic voter registration exercise where the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits malfunctioned, the electoral commission failed to provide the kits in some areas. On the other hand, some registration centres were compelled to share the BVR kits. As a result of this, there was confusion that resulted in voters being registered in the wrong centres after some registration officers, who out of lethargy or sloppiness, failed to use the machines appropriately.

While the IEBC has 24,614 registration centres countrywide, only 15,894 BVR kits were available. The greatest impediment to the voter registration exercise, however, was the lack of national identification cards which are a prerequisite for registration as a voter. Complaints have been raised against the Registrar of Persons for inefficiency and bias in the issuance of IDs.

Verifying such claims - which might well be populist - as true is difficult. Nonetheless, they point to a weakness that needs to be addressed. Members of Parliament from areas perceived to be opposition zones have decried the delay occasioned by the Registrar of Persons in the issuance and despatch of ID cards to those areas.

They argue that the delay is deliberate to disadvantage them. Consequently, in their bid to win the presidency in 2017, they have embarked on a sensitisation campaign, urging eligible voters in their constituencies to acquire identity cards and register as voters in readiness for 2017.

Eligible voters from marginalised and border communities have also cried foul, claiming the Government discriminates against them. Concerns over insecurity and the danger of foreigners getting Kenyan identity cards are understandable, but rather than hamper issuance of cards, this should impress upon the Government the need to have a national data bank.

The Government must ensure that no Kenyan has a reason to feel disenfranchised in 2017. If by 2013 only 14.3 million out of a possible 21.8 million voters were registered, it denotes a bottleneck the IEBC must endeavour to remove and ensure voter registration is a continuous exercise to capture as many voters as possible.

It would also be acting in its own interest if it engaged all parties to avoid the ruckus created as happened with the launch of its strategic plan last week. Though it must strive to remain apolitical, getting the buy-in of all parties in the arena it referees is not only crucial, but makes its work easy.

Lastly, but not least, the Treasury should allocate enough funds to the IEBC in the period before the 2017 General Election to facilitate smooth operations. Of greater importance, IEBC must ensure every individual registration centre has its BVR kits to avoid the mistakes it made in 2013, which have been haunting it.