IEBC’s new mode of gathering information

Written By:KBC reporters,    Posted: Fri, Nov 23, 2012

The voter registration exercise was launched Monday by President Mwai Kibaki The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has inaugurated a teleconference ing system in gathering information from the field to improve communication and hasten response.  Speaking to KBC on phone, IEBC vice chair Lilian Mahiri-Zaja said teleconferencing will enable Regional Elections Coordinators to give regular updates on the progress of the exercise in their respective areas. She also noted that the many challenges that arose after the listing of voter started among them faulty Biometric Voter Registration (B.V.R) kits have been addressed. Mahiri-Zaja  further said recurrence of some problems should not be an excuse of not achieving 18 million voters' target. The one month biometric voter registration (BVR) exercise targeting over 18 million voters was launched Monday by President Mwai Kibaki. Meanwhile, the IEBC has been faulted for failing to set up voter registration centers inside prisons to register inmates and the prison officers. Kituo Cha Sheria National coordinator in charge of advocacy, governance and community partnership Anthony Kamaru says the Non Governmental Organisation was considering moving to court to compel IEBC set up voter registration centres inside all prisons in the country. Kamaru noted that prison community in Kenya had been neglected for long as both convicts and prison officers had often been denied their right to vote thus not participating in the political decision making process. The Kituo Cha Sheria advocacy coordinator said that the new constitution gives every citizen the right to make political choices under the electoral process through voting noting that only those convicted of electoral offences are barred from voting. "The marginalization of inmates and prisons administration in participation in the electoral process remains a challenge in promoting access to justice for all," Kamaru said. Kamaru spoke Thursday in Nyeri town at a press conference after presenting certificates to inmates and prison officers who successfully underwent a three day paralegal crush course dubbed ‘Hamasa Magerezani' at Nyeri's King'ong'o prison. The 40 inmates and 10 prison officers were trained on people's representation, leadership and integrity, good governance, the criminal trial process and electoral laws and offences.