Agency verifies voters' ID details as anomalies soar

Electoral commission working with National Registration Bureau (NRB) to verify voters’ ID details. (Photo: Courtesy)

The electoral commission is working with the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to verify voters’ ID details, a week after it admitted 128,926 voters were registered more than once.

According to the latest data, NRB has confirmed that 57,603 ID numbers used in the registration are non-existent in their system while 21,149 are cases of a single ID used to register more than once. And 52,987 ID numbers exist in the NRB records as legitimate documents.

Consequently, the electoral commission will publish the list of the 74,752 names in local dailies giving owners ten days to rectify their records.

Failure to correct their details, the commission has warned that it will strike off the affected individuals from the voters’ roll.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) data indicates that cases of double registration are spread out around the country.

According to IEBC data, Nairobi County is leading in double registration cases with 7,441 reported while the Diaspora has one case.

Other counties are Kisumu (3,946), Kakamega (3,481), Kiambu (3,500), Siaya (3,307), Meru (3,289), Nakuru (3,261), Homa Bay (2,649), Machakos (2,435), Migori (2,205), Kisii (2,293), Bungoma (2,153), Mombasa (2,012), Kilifi (2,007) and Kitui (2,175).

Makueni has 1,726 cases, Muranga (1,881), Nyeri (1,435), Kirinyaga (1,022), Nyandarua (1,214), Trans Nzoia (1,340), Turkana (1,205), Nandi (1,179), Busia (1,439), Nyamira (1,028), Vihiga (1,162), Bomet (1,158), Kericho (1,273), Kajaido (1,624) and Narok (1,603).

Lamu has the least cases at 230 followed by Isiolo (284), Tana River (435), Samburu (471), Elgeyo Marakwet (578), Taita Taveta (589), Mandera (755), Baringo (767), West Pokot (783), Laikipia (830), Marsabit (794), Tharaka Nithi (805), Wajir (816), Garissa (869), Embu (905) and Kwale (926).

A voter register audit is provided for by law following the passage of election amendments legislation last year. IEBC had awarded KPMG the tender to audit the register, but the process was put on hold after CORD moved to court to block it.

CORD leader Raila Odinga insists that only an international firm that has had experience in voters’ roll clean ups should conduct the exercise.

Raila and his CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka, whose IDs were affected by the voter registration anomalies,  believe more than 128,000 Kenyans are affected. He said the number of ghost voters will be around 1.5 million.

On Thursday, Raila said he had evidence that IEBC data was being manipulated.

“We have unearthed serious anomalies in the ongoing voter registration that bring to questions the integrity of the register being compiled and the figures being released by the IEBC,” said Raila

“Our investigation has confirmed that numbers that do not qualify as identity card numbers have been used to register voters in parts of the country and that is responsible for what is being presented as high turnout in voter registration in those regions,” he said.

A random check by the opposition shows that the numbers (0 00 1 2 11 12 231 111 20 21, 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 40) have been used as national identification cards to register voters.

IEBC, however, released a statement denying there was  fraud, saying the numbers released by the opposition are part of the 128,000 cases under scrutiny.