IEBC lists 3.7 million new voters against 6.1 million target

The electoral agency registered 3,782,089 new voters in the just concluded mass listing.

This was 62 per cent of the electoral agency’s 6.1 million upper target, and 95 per cent of its 4 million lower target.

TRANSFERS

While releasing the results in Nairobi on Tuesday, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Wafula Chebukati said 1,001,819 voters applied to transfer their voting stations.

He said the commission projects that approximately 3.2 million people would be added to the roll at the end of voters' roll clean-up.

The data, he said, would be processed to remove duplication, a register compiled over the next 40 days and be ready for inspection from May 10.

In the 35-day mass voter registration, Mr Chebukati said, `Kajiado topped the list of 10 counties that hit their target, with 240 per cent achievement, listing 79,733 new voters.

OVER 100PC

Other counties that went way beyond their 100 per cent targets were Mandera (116 per cent), Narok (102 per cent), and Garissa hit 92 per cent of the target.

But in terms of absolute numbers, Nairobi registered the most number of voters at 461, 346, Kiambu, 225, 995, Nakuru 175,756, Meru 169, 803, with Mombasa closing the top five with 141,686 new voters by February 19.

Mr Chebukati said that the commission would close the register on March 7 after registration of Kenyans in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Africa.

This is despite an order by a judge that continuous registration of voters continues until May 17, exactly 60 days to the August 8 General Election.

COURT ORDER

“As a commission, we need to, at some point, close the register for verification," he said.

"We will close it on March 7, but (as per the court order), we will not close out those who want to register,” he added, evading question whether those that then register will vote in the August poll.

And, while he announced timelines for presentation of nomination rules for various candidates, Mr Chebukati sounded a death knell to politicians who had hoped to shed off party candidacy and become independents.

“If you want to run as independent, do not engage in the nomination of a political party. The law was made to stop that, and we will make sure it does,” he said.

The IEBC chair said registration in prisons would start on Wednesday in an exercise targeting 5,952 convicts and 2,246 suspects in remand.

6.1M TARGET

The registration was to start on Monday but was delayed by logistical challenges, Mr Chebukati said.

He said prisoners to be registered must be of sound mind, not convicted of an election offence in the preceding five years and have national identity cards.

The IEBC was targeting 6.1 million new voters by February 14, before a court extended the registration by five days.

"We can only do so much. We advertised on TV, radios and everywhere. But the law says registering to vote is voluntary,” he said of the missed target.