President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political bedrocks leads in voter registration, the IEBC reported yesterday, as Raila Odinga protested against what he called massive rigging fraud by the National Intelligence Service.
Meanwhile, in a startling admission of a flawed register, the IEBC acknowledged 128,926 Kenyans share ID or passport numbers in its database. Cord termed the revelation “catastrophic and untenable”. It said the problem is massive, potentially affecting as many as 2.5 million Kenyans.Interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka yesterday rejected the opposition leader’s assertions about NIS mischief.
“These unsubstantiated claims are out rightly malicious and intended to undermine the voter registration process while at the same time maligning public institutions,” he said in a statement.
IEBC statistics released yesterday indicate Central Kenya and the Rift Valley have taken an early lead in the percentage of newly registered voters in the first week of the month-long drive. It ends on February 14.
If this advantage and momentum are sustained, Uhuru, who is under siege from a united opposition, could again achieve the “tyranny of numbers”.
In total 825,145 voters registered countrywide in the first week, against the IEBC’s first-week target of 1.4 million.
According to new IEBC statistics, Central Kenya (Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kiambu, Kirinyaga and Muranga counties) have registered a record 139,876 voters in the first seven days, 87 per cent of the IEBC target.
Rift Valley, considered DP William Ruto’s bastion, registered 169,371 since the drive began on Monday last week.
Despite vigorous campaigns by Raila and co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula, it appears their political turfs have been stricken by voter apathy.
Raila’s political citadel of Nyanza (Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira counties) only registered 95,995 voters in the first week. This translates to 48 per cent only.