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2017 KENYA ELECTIONS

IEBC: Voter registration period won’t be extended

“This is the second week of voter registration and come February 14, we do not intend to extend this period. We are requesting all Kenyans who are eligible to come out and register because we do not intend to extend this period,” she stated/CFM NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 27 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it will not extend the period for the Mass Voter Registration once it ends in the next two weeks.

IEBC Vice Chairperson Consolata Nkatha encouraged those who have not registered to take advantage of the remaining period to do so.

“This is the second week of voter registration and come February 14, we do not intend to extend this period. We are requesting all Kenyans who are eligible to come out and register because we do not intend to extend this period,” she declared.

She was speaking after flagging off a voter registration sensitisation caravan on Friday, where she urged Kenyans not to wait until the last minute to register.

“Instead of waiting for the last days as we have normally seen, we are requesting them to come and register within the next two weeks,” she advised.

She further exuded confidence that the new commission will ensure that the August polls are free and fair.

“We have a very good team with our chairman and the six commissioners. We have been working round the clock since we started on Monday. This is our fourth day. We have already been in the field to see the voter registration,” she stated.

She explained that the electoral body has undertaken voter education that will ensure everyone exercises their right.

“Today we are here doing the voter education and we will travel with the caravan telling Kenyans to come out and vote. We are up to the task and we are going to deliver a free, fair, transparent and credible elections come the August 8, 2017,” she emphasised.

IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba stated that following the completion of the registration, the register will be made available to the public for scrutiny.

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“We are going to have the opportunity to vet the register by making it available for a period of 30 days from May 10 for Kenyans to be able to scrutinise to ensure that it is credible and has got only eligible Kenyans,” he said.

He further stressed the need for anyone who sees any anomaly in the voter registration exercise to report it to the IEBC so that the necessary action can be taken.

“What we want to urge the political class is that if there are any issues that you think is not legal that is happening in this exercise, please report to us or any other relevant authorities,” he said.

He indicated that after the closure of the Mass Voter Registration, it will be extended to Kenyans living in the Diaspora.

“There are many Kenyans out there who have not registered as voters and they have National Identity Cards. In our first mass voter registration exercise, we got 1.4 million,” he stated.

“In our second mass voter registration exercise, we are targeting six million so that we make up for the difference. So our urge is for Kenyans to actually come out and register.” he said.

Statistics released on Wednesday indicated that in the first week, IEBC listed 845,000 voters.

READ: Voter registration numbers unimpressive – IEBC

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However, on the first day, the commission faced several logistical challenges that contributed somewhat to the low registration recorded.

Four counties of Tana River, Lamu, Turkana and Laikipia had not submitted a record of registration for the two days due to logistical challenges.

According to Chiloba 68 of the 7,793 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits deployed for the exercise malfunctioned.

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