Hassan: We are not registering voters secretly

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Issack Hassan on Saturday denied that the body is engaging in clandestine registration of voters.

He said that the ongoing voter listing rolled out in 290 constituencies countrywide longer than a month ago is within the electoral body’s mandate and should be seen as a normal exercise.

Speaking with the Sunday Nation, Mr Hassan stated that the commission has been unable to publicise the exercise due to lack of funds.

“We only have Sh8m at the moment to carry out the exercise. We have been unable to advertise and to conduct voter education on the registration because we don’t have money,” he said.

The IEBC chairman disclosed that the commission is yet to pay Kenyan media houses millions of shillings incurred in advertising carried out ahead of last year’s elections.

He noted: “This commission has nothing to hide on the ongoing exercise. If we get the resources, we will advertise and conduct voter education and go ahead to register people from where they are”.

The IEBC boss said that the commission has currently resorted to the social media sites Facebook and Twitter to reach out to Kenyans.

He revealed that the commission has verbally communicated to governors and county assembly ward representatives to mobilise citizens in their areas to register.

Mr Hassan called on politicians to urge their supporters to register instead of running unnecessary campaigns against the commission.

He said that the commission is planning to roll out major vote listing exercise in all the 1,450 wards around the country later this year if its proposal on voter listing is endorsed by Parliament.