IEBC: Fake voters will not take part in General Election

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Thursday said dead and fake voters will not participate in the General Election.

The agency's chairperson Wafula Chebukati dismissed reports on social media casting doubt on the actual state of the electoral register. He termed the reports deliberate misinformation.

“With more than 19.6 million voters, the commission has the most updated and advanced database of persons in the country. This is an asset that we must secure as Kenyans,” Mr Chebukati said.

“We wish to clarify that the accuracy of the 2017 register of voters depends on the implementation of the outcome of the verification exercise that was undertaken between May 10 to June 9 and the recommendations by KPMG following the audit of the register of voters,” the IEBC chairperson said.

He said in a statement the IEBC is not taking any chances in making the August polls credible and he will ensure there is a more reliable electronic system for purposes of voter identification and results transmission.

The assurance comes three days after the commission released the final list of registered voters. The final register has 19.9 million people.

The auditing company KPMG had concluded that 1.5 million people above the age of 18 died between 2012 and December 2016 when the current register was developed, but only found 92,277 who were still in the roll. 

Of these, the IEBC expunged names of 88,602, saying KPMG had narrowed down the figure by 3,765.