Lobby groups in Lamu County have accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of releasing inaccurate voter registration data, warning that such errors could discourage residents from participating in the ongoing nationwide continuous voter registration.
As the drive enters its second week, the groups say the IEBC’s latest status update, showing Lamu as having registered only one voter in the first week, paints a false and damaging picture of the county’s participation.
The update released on Friday, October 3, by IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon was for registrations that took place from Monday, September 29, up to Thursday, October 2.
Salma Hemed, the executive director of She Rises, a human rights organisation, noted that apart from demoralising the community, incorrect data entry makes citizens lose faith in the IEBC.
“Many Kenyans aren’t confident that the IEBC can deliver a fair and just election. People were looking forward to the new commissioners to restore that lost confidence,” said Ms Hemed.
Data compiled at the county level showed that by Friday, a total of 24 new voters, all from Lamu East Constituency, had been registered. Five more new voters were registered in the same constituency on Saturday, bringing the total number of newly registered voters to 29.
In Lamu West Constituency, however, no voters had been registered during the entire first week. IEBC officials in Lamu confirmed that the data captured in the national tally was inaccurate, adding that it reflected the first day's figures only.
The county’s IEBC records seen by the Nation show that one voter was registered on Monday, four on Tuesday, 10 on Wednesday, two on Thursday, seven on Friday, and five on Saturday.
"The figures may have captured only day one of the exercise when there was one new registered voter. But the number increased in the following days, so the one indicated is inaccurate," an official who requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said.
“If a simple exercise like continuous voter registration is already witnessing some sort of discrepancies, that’s unfortunate. Lamu is already a marginalised region and making it be viewed as the lowest county to register voters is demoralizing,” said Ms Hemed.
Lamu County Muslim Women Advancement of Rights and Protections (MWARP) Coordinator Haji Mbwana, called on IEBC to stop pushing Lamu to remain on the list of marginalised regions.
“We know Lamu is marginalised and since time immemorial, it has been a county that has the lowest number of registered voters compared to the rest of Kenya. But we need accurate data entry so that we don’t remain on the list of marginalised places,” said Mr Mbwana.
Lobby groups are now demanding a parallel data collection process by both the community and IEBC for purposes of checks and balances. According to the IEBC, Lamu County had a total of 81,453 registered voters ahead of the August 2022 General Election. Lamu East Constituency had 22,047 registered voters, while Lamu West had 59,406.
Concerning the low turnout, stakeholders cited logistical challenges since Lamu is vast with many islands in the Indian Ocean, and that many targeted people are fishermen who spend most of their time at sea.
Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuru) organisation Board Member, Khelef Khalifa, said the IEBC should not expect a high voter turnout in places like Lamu, where geography is a challenge. According to Mr Khalifa, travelling by boat to reach the IEBC constituency offices for registration is extremely costly.
“Moving from Mtangawanda, Tchundwa, Mbwajumwali, and Kizingitini to the Faza Constituency office to register is not less than Sh1,000, just one way. People are already suffering due to the high standard of living and a harsh economy,” said Mr Khalifa.
He called on the commission to consider opening more registration centres in various places across all remote regions in the country to help citizens get registered.
“Lamu will continue to witness low voter turnout due to the geographical challenges it has, unless IEBC thinks of ways to reach those voters. They should also liaise with imams in mosques and pastors in churches to help spread the gospel of people coming out to register,” said Mr Khalifa.
