KPMG bags deal to clean voter register ahead of elections

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said audit firm KPMG will clean up the voter register ahead of the August 9 polls.

KPMG also audited the register before the 2017 polls.

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said KPMG beat four others to clinch the deal.

He denied that the time to get rid of dead voters has lapsed, adding that the six-month window to audit the register only applied to the 2017 elections.

According to him, the ballot papers and the system to transmit the results of the election are in place and within the required timelines.

IEBC had to re-tender the assignment as the bidders were non-responsive.

According to Mr Chebukati, although the commission is no longer bound by the timelines, the re-tendering was done within the six-month period.

He addressed journalists after new IEBC Chief Executive Hussein Marjan was sworn in by Chief Justice Martha Koome. According to the Elections Act 2017, the IEBC is required to conduct an audit of the register six months before the General Election, a period that has since elapsed.

Enhancing accuracy

“The Commission may, at least six months before a General Election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the register of voters for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the register; recommending mechanisms of enhancing the accuracy of the register and updating the register,” states the Act.

The law also requires the commission to close voter registration before it can allow the register to be opened for inspection by the public.

The purpose of the inspection is to allow voters to correct their details.

However, the commission is still conducting continuous voter listing.

In the run-up to the 2017 election, an audit report by KPMG exposed at least 10 security loopholes that could have been exploited to influence the poll.

 “We have awarded the firm and we are in the standstill period of 14 days before we sign the tender,” Mr Marjan said. “With the voters we have registered, we will now consolidate the register and that is when the audit firm will come in.”

Meanwhile, Mr Chebukati said the commission will summon Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria over his claims on rigging the 2017 election.

“The commission will take action against Kuria. We also want to know what they mean when they say the election was rigged,” he said.

Kuria, speaking at the UDA delegates’ conference on Tuesday, said he and other leaders helped Uhuru Kenyatta clinch the presidency.

He criticised Mr Kenyatta, whom he said was now sidelining the team that propelled him to victory in 2013 and 2017 under Jubilee.