Ezra Chiloba defends IEBC's decision to register voters at ward level

The electoral commission now says politicians, especially those in the Opposition would better join in the mobilisation efforts instead of demanding voter registration at the polling centres instead of ward level.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission CEO Ezra Chiloba told Sunday Nation that the commission had received Sh500 million from the National Treasury for the voter registration which is not enough to carry out the exercise at the more than 30,000 polling centres.

“Treasury availed the Sh500 million budget for the exercise. We have already commenced acquisition of materials and recruitment. We continue to engage them for more funds to open more registration centres,” he said.

The mass voter registration kicks off on February 15 and will run for a month.

IEBC targets to net some four million new voters during the exercise, a figure that would boost the voters’ register to 22 million.

A week ago, Cord demanded that the mass voter registration be conducted at polling centres instead of ward levels.

The Opposition, which has in the past alleged a plot to rig next year’s elections, said the electoral commission’s plan to distribute biometric voter registration kits in wards as opposed to polling stations was illogical. There are 1,450 county wards in the country.

CORD DEMANDS

“We want the IEBC to immediately come clean on the number of registration centres for the February-March exercise and how those centres have been selected and the distribution,” said Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu, whose party Ford-Kenya is a member of Cord.

“We demand that voter registration is done at polling stations and not ward level. We demand clarity, well aware that in the run-up to the 2013 (General Election), the IEBC presided over an overwhelmingly skewed distribution of voter registration kits,” Cord said in a statement.

However, Mr Chiloba said the practicalities of Cord’s demands would require additional funding to buy biometric voter registration kits and hire temporary staff, money that IEBC currently does not have.

“The Commission’s desire is to ensure registration services are accessible by all Kenyans. That is the principle you see running through our plans. But due to budget limitations, we have to adapt strategies that will maximise returns. Consideration for distances has been made in the distribution of the kits,” the IEBC CEO said.