Following an audit by KPMG, the Chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati, has ordered the immediate suspension of the release of the voter’s register.
Early this year, the IEBC hired KPMG to clean the voter rolls in order to ensure a free, fair, and verifiable election on August 9th.
However, the audit revealed disturbing findings, including the fact that 246,465 voters were listed but were deceased, as well as 481,711 duplicate entries, implying that Kenyans had two voter registration cards.
The audit also revealed that 226,143 voters were registered using documents that were not lawfully theirs.
Before the validation and publication of the register, Chebukati assured Kenyans that the electoral commission will address their concerns.
“The commission had previously stated that it will certify and publish the voter registration list on or before June 9.”
The commission has decided to resolve preliminary audit findings before certifying the register for publishing on or before June 20 due to the implementation of preliminary audit results on the register. On June 16, the commission will get the final audit report, and on June 17, it will engage stakeholders on the final voter register,” Chebukati added.
The findings come a week after Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential candidate William Ruto claimed that 1 million voters from his strongholds had voted for him.
