ODM MP claims Jubilee planning to rig 2017 elections

An Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) MP has claimed the Jubilee administration is planning to rig next year’s General Elections.

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed claimed the ruling party plans to achieve this goal through a ‘suspect’ voter registration.

In a statement, Mohammed accused the Ministry of Interior of being behind the scheme.

The ministry reportedly sent a memo to church leaders and youth groups notifying them of a planned mobile ID cards and voter-registration exercise.

Mohammed said the Ministry’s decision to issue the memo and the contents thereof, appear to usurp the functions of Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) that undertakes mass voter registration.

“The collusion between Ministry of Interior and IEBC to concentrate on mass registration of voters in Jubilee regions, particularly Central is part of the early rigging by the government, which ODM will not allow,” Mohammed said.

But the ministry through its Director of Communications Mwenda Njoka dismissed the claims terming them ‘malicious and mischievous’.

Njoka said the process of issuance of identity cards is a civic duty that the State is obligated to fulfill.

“This memo is from an administrator trying to push for the issuance of IDs. With half a million uncollected cards in the country, we are sensitising the public through chiefs, district officers and others to use the available avenues to rally Kenyans of the eligible age to apply.

"This is happening in all regions. We have visited Migori, Kisii and Kisumu where the Interior Principal Secretary Kibicho Karanja asked Kenyans to apply for IDs,” Njoka said and challenged Mohammed to produce evidence.

“Registration bureaus are all over the country. We would be happy to see the figures. The IDs will help Kenyans to secure jobs and join the military or police force. If they want to vote, it’s their right as enshrined in law."

Mohammed said the ODM leadership had noted that only Jubilee-allied areas are getting ‘this kind of government attention’ and massive employment of resources.

“The Ministry of Interior is the biggest obstacle to people getting ID cards in areas perceived not to support the Jubilee regime where the government is deliberately sabotaging the issuance of IDs to youths,” he said. Mohammed also took issue with the elections body.

“We note that following the bloating of IEBC register ahead of the 2013 elections, Central already registered its maximum voters according to the 2009 census and any new manoeuver at voter registration is a cynical tactic to hoodwink Kenyans; not unless the region is now registering underage children and infants,” he said.

The secretariat was not spared either.

“We also take note that IEBC secretariat, including CEO Ezra Chiloba, is too conflicted to carry out the next elections. That’s why they are presiding over the selective mass voter registration in Jubilee strongholds,” he alleged.

The claims come at time when the country is in the process of getting new commissioners.