IEBC Says it May Resort to Manual Voter Registration

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has today, Thursday given strong indications that it may resort to manual registration again if the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits do not arrive in the country by November 5th, 2012.

IEBC Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan however says voter registration will start on November 12th, 2012 if the BVR kits arrive by the 5th November

Hassan says the manual registration of voters is just the worst scenario in the event that the kits do not arrive in good time for the exercise.

Hassan was speaking during the signing of letters of credit for payment of the remaining Ksh 3.8 billion for the supply of BVR kits between Treasury, StanChart and French firm, Safran Morpho.

“We are happy, but we hope that the Bank will not hold us back with their own bureaucracy. Each day counts for us,” said Hassan.

The signing of the pay deal came a day after the Minister for Finance Njeru Githae and his Justice and Constitutional Affairs Eugene Wamalwa traded accusations over who was delaying the payments but later came to an agreement to have the payments done.

IEBC on Wednesday said that it had received only 196 BVR kits out of the required 15,000.

Meanwhile, Cabinet has reaffirmed its support for the March 4th, 2013 General Election saying that it has facilitated the delivery of the BVR kits to be used for voter registration next month.

The Cabinet further directed that the processing of Identity Cards be done in a hurry to help the young Kenyans participate fully in the next election.

In a statement released by the Presidential Press Services (PPS), the Cabinet warned government officials against collecting money during the issuance of IDs.

“Anyone charging the illegal fees for the acquisition of IDs will be dealt with accordingly,” read the Cabinet statement.

The Cabinet further assured chiefs of their jobs after the next election saying that they cannot be rendered irrelevant since they are the key government officials at the grassroots levels.

By Koome Kimonye,
Citizen News