The recent directive by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ordering voters who registered before 2012 to register afresh will help rid the register of ghost voters, Alego – Usonga member of parliament Samuel Atandi has said.
The legislator is calling on Kenyans to support the move, which, he said, was long overdue.
Addressing the press at his rural home in South East Alego location, Siaya County, Atandi thanked the IEBC chairperson, Erastus Edung Ethekon, for the determination to clean the voter register, adding that this will bring to an end perennial complaint that have always dented the credibility of elections.
“We have said it all along and even former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga in his statements on IEBC, would always complain that the register is not clean,” said the legislator.
Atandi said the register is full of non-existent voters who need to be purged.
He called on Kenyans to cooperate with the IEBC, saying that the country cannot afford fraud during the next elections.
The legislator at the same time challenged Nyanza residents to turn up in large numbers to register as voters during the ongoing registration.
Atandi lamented that despite the large number of youths acquiring identity cards, counties in the region, especially Siaya, Migori, Homabay and Kisumu, have continued to post low numbers registering as voters.
“Identity Cards are lying uncollected in registration offices. I urge those who applied for the document to come out and pick them and register as voters,” he said.
The MP, who is also the chairman of the budget committee in the national assembly, said that the government was working hard to correct historical injustices that happened in the region because of skewed development programs.
He pointed out that President William Ruto has allowed his team to ensure that development is spread across the country.
“We have new projects in the roads, health, water, and electricity transmission sectors, among others,” he said.
By Philip Onyango
