Kenya prisoners to register for referendum
The Interim Independent Electoral Commission has announced it will register prisoners for the referendum on the proposed constitution from July 2.
The electronic listing, which will run for one week, will be followed by a quick verification process of the inmates' registered details as the IIEC seeks to stick to the referendum timetable.
IIEC Chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan said the move allays fears that the August 4 vote could be delayed over logistical concerns regarding the listing of the 53,000 prisoners countrywide.
“Due to the strict time constraints directed by the court, the commission will have to adopt the fastest means available in the enforcement of the ruling and this requires prompt additional resources, logistical, financial and human resources,” said Mr Hassan.
He said he was hopeful that the commission will get the necessary support to meet the challenges of the court ruling.
The IIEC, he said, will gazette 70 prisons across the country as voter registration centres and polling stations starting early next week. Those with huge numbers of prisoners will have two streams, one for women and the other for men.
No prisoners
There are, however, 103 gazetted prisons across the country but, according to Mr Hassan, some of them, including Nyamira, have no prisoners.
The commission will immediately embark on training officers in charge of the prisons across the country to become deputy registration officers and work with it to implement the ruling, Mr Hassan said.
Mr Hassan said the elections body was still working out the budget for the listing and will approach the Ministry of Finance for funds in due course.
The Interim Independent Constitutional Dispute Resolution Court (IICDRC) on Wednesday ruled that prisoners, of sound mind, should be registered to vote in the plebiscite within 21 days. It also ruled that all prisons in Kenya should be gazetted as polling centres.
The ruling arose from a case filed by Shimo La Tewa prisoners in Mombasa, through Kituo Cha Sheria, a human rights lobby, who argued that the constitution bars them from voting in a General Election but not in a referendum.
They further argued that their exclusion from the vote is unconstitutional and a violation of their rights.
He disclosed that after the referendum the IIEC will withdraw the prisoners’ voter's card since the ruling by the IICDRC restricted their voting rights to the referendum.
Cross bridge
The court was established by section 60A of the Constitution and has exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters arising from the constitutional review process.
Asked if he was worried on the outcome of another case, which has been filed at the same special court, to call off the referendum and compel the commission to register Kenyans living abroad as voters, Mr Hassan remained non-committal.
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.
The case was filed by six people, among them activist Omtatah Okoiti. They are also asking the court to bar the Attorney-General, the IIEC and the Committee of Experts from conducting partisan civic education.
Judge Violet Mavisi declined to do so until those institutions have had a chance to give their side of the story.
Mr Hassan could not say whether MPs from the Yes and No camps will be allowed to rally the prisoners to their side since prisons are restricted areas.
“That will depend on the Commissioner of Prisons and how they agree with those campaigning. Our bit will be to educate the prisoners on the need to register as voters for this referendum.”
