The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is concerned over Kenyans’ excessive and unnecessary criticism of the commission, urging them to instead support the ongoing Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) drive.
IEBC commissioner Anne Nderitu has raised concerns over what she termed as ‘persistent propaganda’ that is aimed at discrediting the commission without a valid cause.
Nderitu warned that the sustained attacks risk undermining public trust in the entire electoral process and tarnishing the image of the Commission.
“When you continue to discredit an institution that is supposed to conduct elections without any basis and you have no alternative institution, what are you doing?,” she posed.
“IEBC commissioners are Kenyans; this is our country too, we can only do the right thing. We have seen it before; IEBC always does the right thing,” she added.
Nderitu said that despite the growing criticism, the electoral body is committed to upholding transparency and inclusivity in the electoral process.
The commissioner noted that elections are a collective civic responsibility and discouraged stakeholders, including voters, from discrediting the commission without evidence.
“One thing that we have agreed on is that elections are not for IEBC alone; they are for the people. It is actually Kenyans who come out on election day to vote for their leaders and it is for that reason that we are expected to join hands and make elections as credible as possible,” she said.
Nderitu, who spoke during a stakeholders meeting in Nyeri, also called on Kenyans to uphold democratic principles, including accepting election outcomes.
She assured Kenyans that the Commission will conduct the processes openly. “The issue that we must address is acceptance of results. Once you elect leaders, then you must accept it is you who have been elected, not IEBC,” she said.
The meeting brought together political aspirants, National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) and civic society organisations to chat the way forward on strategies to effectively reach all unregistered voters during the Enhanced Voter Registration Exercise.
The exercise which commenced on March 30 will end on April 28 by which time the commission is targeting to have registered some 2.5 million voters.
As of April 9, the IEBC had enlisted 875,501 voters into the election register.
The commission had also effected some 49,502 transfers and updated particulars for 1,066 voters in the country.
In Nyeri, where the commission is targeting to enlist a total of 139,892 new voters during the ongoing ECVR exercise, only 18,839 had been registered by Thursday last week, with Nderitu noting that the numbers were still low.
During the meeting, it also emerged that uncollected National Identity cards are still the biggest impediment hampering the success of the ECVR exercise.
According to the Central Region Director in charge of the National Registration Bureau (NBR), Joseph Ndung’u, close to 89,000 IDs are lying uncollected in Huduma Centres and chief camps across the region.
Ndung’u noted that Kiambu County leads with 44,000; Kirinyaga has 10,400; Nyeri has 8,900, while Nyandarua has 1,400 uncollected IDs.
He nevertheless urged the youth to take advantage of the EVCR to acquire IDs, adding that the NBR has made necessary arrangements to process the document.
“Our appeal to the members of the public is that those who applied for IDs to come and collect them from our offices and Huduma centres. We are also encouraging them to take advantage of this enhanced voter registration period to take IDs which are taking a maximum of two weeks to be printed,” said Ndung’u.
Nyeri governor, Dr. Mutahi Kahiga, while commending the IEBC for deploying mobile registration kits, called for targeted outreach programmes in places of worship.
He further appealed to Civil Society Organisations, religious groups to support the IEBC terming elections as a collective civic responsibility.
Dr. Kahiga further expressed concern over the uncollected IDs, noting that they translate into unregistered voters. He also urged residents to collect their IDs to enable them to get registered as voters.
“We have just about two weeks to go and though I know this community has a tendency of waiting until the last minute, we are urging them to move fast this is the time to take responsibility.
We are urging those that have not registered as voters to kindly collect their IDs so that they can register because you cannot register as a voter without this vital document card,” the governor said.
By Wangari Mwangi
