Duplication of ID numbers raises credibility concerns among voters
Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi addresses his supporters at the party's head office in Nairobi on January 30, 2017. He has told IEBC to ensure registration of voters is done in a candid manner. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Chebukati said the problem will be sorted out to make the process more credible.
- Mr Mudavadi urged the IEBC chairman to start on the right footing by outlining what he plans to do to forestall hacking of the electronic system.
Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi has told the electoral body and the Jubilee government to purge the voters' registry of fake and multiple national identity card numbers used to register people.
Reacting to revelations that the ID cards of former presidents Mwai Kibaki and Daniel arap Moi were used to register other people to vote, Mr Mudavadi said that is unacceptable.
"The pervasiveness of fake ID numbers and ID multiple ownership cannot be executed without connivance at high levels of government to subvert the right of Kenyans to choose their leaders democratically," he said in a statement Friday.
Mr Mudavadi said the response issued by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati to the claims was deceptively "vague and does not answer our concern that the voters register is tainted".
He said duplication is tantamount to criminal activity.
"How come 128,926 duplicate ID numbers were keyed in and have been retained in the system since 2012 as confessed by the chairman?
"Is the chairman advertently admitting that there were malpractices in the 2013 elections given this number of duplicate ID number holders who were allowed to vote?" he posed.
Mr Chebukati said the problem will be sorted out to make the process more credible.
He blamed the mess on the 2012 registration conducted under commissioners who retired last month, and said such anomalies should not be used to discredit the entire polling process.
Mr Mudavadi urged the IEBC chairman to start on the right footing by outlining what he plans to do to forestall hacking of the electronic system.
"Indeed, the IEBC has not clarified satisfactorily the legality of [the] Jubilee Smartcard being linked to the IEBC data base that ANC has raised," he added.
He also mentioned an alleged plot by the Interior ministry in which village elders have been asked to forward 12 names and their numbers to superiors.
The ANC leader suspects that the ID numbers are being allocated to other people to use them for voting without the owners' knowledge.
He said the registration process should be done scrupulously and opened to scrutiny.
