Nairobi, July 6 ; The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has issued an update after voters expressed concern over outages in the electoral body's online systems.
Kenyans had taken to social media platforms on Saturday, July 5, to express concern after finding their details 'missing'' in the IEBC voter-register.
In a clarification on Sunday, July 6, the electoral body stated it's carrying out a system maintenance to enhance efficiency and service delivery.
" The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) wishes to inform the public that it is currently undertaking a scheduled system maintenance on its voter verification portal. This essential maintenance is part of ongoing migration to new infrastructure aimed at enhancing services delivery through system performance and security." read part of the presser.
IEBC urged the public to remain calm, stating it will promptly communicate once the system is fully operational and ready for verification of voter details.
" The Commission highly regrets any inconvenience this may cause and appreciates your understanding as it works towards serving you better." IEBC stated.
" We wish to assure all Kenyans that the registration details of the 22,120,458 registered voters, as recorded during the 2022 General Election, remain intact and secure. IEBC remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthening Kenya's democracy." It affirmed.
This comes a day after the Electoral body addressed claims of targeting certain regions in an alleged plan to erase at least two million people from the voters' roll.
A statement attributed to the nominated IEBC chairman Erastus Ethekon had indicated that supposed ghost voters would be erased from the register, targeting a section of regions in Mt Kenya.
The statement gained traction, sparking reactions from Kenyans and hence prompting the clarification from the IEBC.
The electoral agency flagged it as a deep fake by virtue of not having a substantive chairman who would speak officially on behalf of the commission.
"Please note that the Commission currently neither has a Chairperson nor Members of the Commission. Therefore, any information circulating on social media is null and void," the IEBC tweeted Saturday, July 5.
The commission remains nonquorate and only run by the secretariat, as the nomination of the new team remains blocked in court.
On June 10, President William Ruto gazetted names to substantively occupy the commission and prepare the country for the 2027 general election.
The nominees were Erastus Edung (chairperson), Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah.
The team was slated for their swearing-in before a petition was filed in court challenging their recruitment.
"The nominations do not meet the requirements of Articles 10, 27(1), 232, and 250(3) & (4) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, which call for regional balance, ethnic inclusivity, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Allowing the nominees to take office without addressing these concerns would render the petition moot, as constitutional provisions do not allow for removal of commissioners on grounds related to irregular appointments," partly read the petition.
The petition was filed before Justice Lawrence Mugambi, who paused the swearing-in of the chairman and commissioners, despite okaying the National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) to vet them.
