Jubilee Party has accused the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of skewed distribution of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits in favour of Opposition strongholds.
Head of Jubilee Party secretariat Raphael Tuju said more kits were allocated to areas where the Opposition is perceived to be enjoying more support than in regions where the ruling party has a strong foothold.
“IEBC has a credibility gap to fill. (Ezra) Chiloba and (Wafula) Chebukati (the CEO and the chairman respectively) come from the same counties and apprehension has been raised by people from Jubilee strongholds on their neutrality,” said Tuju.
But in a quick rejoinder IEBC said it was disturbed by Tuju's remarks.
A statement signed by the commissions's media and communication's manager Andrew Limo accused Jubilee of seeking to undermine the integrity of IEBC.
“We take great exception with any form of profiling that undermines the integrity of the commission, and more importantly the values of our Constitution that we must hold so dear to our hearts,” he said.
Limo also said nobody raised any concern when the commission published the formula for sharing of kits at the beginning of the voter registration exercise.
Speaking to the media on Friday morning, Tuju said Nasa/Cord areas have 255 more machines than opposition areas with equal demographics.
He said Nasa perceived strongholds across the country have 2,943 BVR kits, about 38 per cent more than Jubilee’s 34 per cent, equivalent to 2,688 machines, while swing voting zones have 2,162 kits.
“For instance, Nyeri and Tharaka Nithi have 152 and 91 BVR machines respectively when Siaya and Bungoma where Nasa/Cord enjoy popularity, have been given 157 and 219 kits respectively. We, therefore, request Chebukati and Chiloba to explain the rationale that was used to arrive at the formula,” he said.
At the same, Tuju also claimed the Opposition’s frequent complaints of fraud in the ongoing voter registration exercise is suspect, terming it similar to outbursts made by US President Donald Trump during his campaigns to cover his alleged rigging schemes.
He claimed the same scenario is unfolding in Nasa/Cord complaints as a ploy to hoodwink the public that Jubilee was planning to rig the elections, saying it was a ploy for them to cover-up their plots to rig.
“We have been reading media reports that seem to be coming up every day on double registration, names and Identity Card numbers that do not match, including those of very prominent members of the society. I mean, how do you explain the names of two former presidents and a former prime minister sharing ID card numbers? We need an explanation,” said Tuju.
Tuju said the “whining” by Nasa could be just a rubble rousing technique to deflect the country’s vigilance from matters of impartiality in the face of the issues the party has raised.
He said double registration of voters cards should be squarely blamed on Nasa. “They are the ones who have blocked the audit by taking IEBC to court. We cannot be in the business of defending IEBC from Nasa when credibility of their impartiality is being undermined. They should stand up and defend themselves,” he said.
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