Friday, June 28, 2013

Is Kethi really a registered voter?


Reliable sources said Kethi’s name did not appear anywhere on the IEBC voter records even though she holds an acknowledgment slip/CFM
Reliable sources said Kethi’s name did not appear anywhere on the IEBC voter records even though she holds an acknowledgment slip/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 28 – Controversy is brewing at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with details emerging that the Makueni County Returning Officer Salad Boru Guracha cleared Kethi Kilonzo for the July 22 by-election even though she is not a registered voter.
Reliable sources said Kethi’s name did not appear anywhere on the IEBC voter records even though she holds an acknowledgment slip.
Video clips in our possession also show IEBC staff in Wote saying that they had checked both Kethi’s national identity number details as well as passport number to verify her registration but none of the documents appeared anywhere.
The sources also said that IEBC officials, who oversaw Kethi’s clearance in Makueni on Thursday, were torn over the issue with Voter Registration Manager Nancy Kariuki allegedly vowing to take the matter up to the commission’s top command.
“Nancy is the one who had a problem with that issue and she was asking Salad why he cleared her knowing that her documents were problematic. They did not resolve the issue because Nancy said she would follow up the matter at the IEBC headquarters,” said the source.
Kariuki is said to have been particularly incensed with the clearance accusing Guracha of abusing the law.
The sources added that Guracha told his colleagues that he cleared her out of fear of the crowd that had come to support Kethi.
“Salad kept saying he did not want them to discuss the issue at Wote for security purposes because people were congregating at the venue and that they would have turned violent if he did not clear Kethi,” explained the source.
When Capital FM News called Kariuki for a comment she referred us to Guracha saying he was the most appropriate person to contact.
Guracha however said that the matter is settled and that anyone with concerns should raise the issue with IEBC Disputes’ Resolution Committee.
“I don’t want to discuss that matter because we dealt with it yesterday and whoever is concerned will have his day at the Disputes’ Resolution Committee,” Guracha said.
Sources at the IEBC have also verified that Kethi’s name is not in the register and that the issue is already ruffling feathers at the commission.
On Thursday as the IEBC tried to verify her voter registration details, their monitors kept blinking ‘No match Found’.
Guracha later told journalists that Kethi had an acknowledgment slip whose serial number matched one in the IEBC records but would not verify whether or not Kethi was registered.
IEBC staff at Wote could also be heard expressing concern that the matter could land them and their chairman in trouble.
When reached for comment, the Commission’s Communication Manager Tabitha Mutemi said they would send a statement on the matter.

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