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Voters queue to cast their ballots in the just ended by-elections. /FILE

Kenya

Kenya voter registration begins Oct 11

IEBC Chief Executive Officer James Oswago assured the nation that training for IEBC staff will be conducted with the first 2,000 kits ahead of the arrival of a further 5,000 kits within a fortnight.

He said that the Canadian government had also assured that the supplier will meet the tight deadlines for supply.

“Strictly speaking, you cannot have 15,000 kits within 14 days. We want an initial delivery of 2,000 kits for training, and as the training is going on, we get 5,000 kits before the end of the 14 days, and thereafter the remainder,” said Oswago.

“We are negotiating with the company but the Canadian government has consistently said in writing that it is their responsibility to ensure that the timelines agreed with the company are met and respected,” he added.

The signing of the contract is expected to bring to an end the BVR issue which had caused concerns over the fate of elections after IEBC cancelled the initial tender.

The move by the IEBC to cancel the BVR tender and revert to manual registration elicited widespread disapproval by Kenyans including political leadership, Parliament, the Executive and Civil Society.

After cancelling the BVR tender, IEBC intended to use the Optical Mark Reader which was utilised in the 2010 referendum.

However, the government, led by President Mwai Kibaki impressed upon the IEBC to revert to the use of BVR kits.

The government agreed that the kits will be procured in a government-to-government arrangement, in a move to ensure faster delivery in time for the March 2013 general election.

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IEBC intends to register 18 million voters for the election.

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