The late Jacob Juma. [Photo/Mediamax]
Deceased businessman Jacob Juma is still a registered voter, an investigation by a local daily have revealed.
According to The Standard, Juma who was killed a year ago in Nairobi under mysterious circumstances is still on the IEBC voter register for Manyatta village polling station in Lang’ata constituency.
The daily said Tuesday it obtained the national identity card (ID) numbers of various dead persons which it sent to the number given by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for the public to ascertain their voter details.
It said it used several ID numbers of deceased people among them that of the contoversial businessman and their findings showed they were still eligible voters.
The revelations come even as the opposition raises concern over the validity o the voter register claiming it has irregularities.
The National Super Alliance says it wants a credible election.
NASA Pentagon member Musalia Mudavadi wants the issue of deceased voters addressed urgently.
“For credible elections, there should be a system that connects Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to Civil Registration Department (CRS) so that when someone dies and the death is reported to the authorities, it is automatically deleted,” he said.
On her part, ODM secretary general Agnes Zani said some people have confirmed that the names o their dead relatives are still in the register.
“Kenyans have confirmed the existence of dead family members, some who passed away 15 to 20 years ago, in the voters register,” Zani said in a statement Monday.
However, IEBC Commissioner Roselyn Akombe allayed the fears by the Opposition, stating that the commission had implemented most of the recommendations by KPMG, which audited the voter register.
Out o the 92,277 people listed as dead in the audit, 3,675 were erroneously captured as deceased, she added.
“We got records from the Registrar of Births and Death which they get from civil registrar from the field,” said Akombe as quoted by the daily.
The official said the commission had set up back-up measures to weed out dead voters in the unlikely event that the electronic identification fails.
“The primary method is biometric. It is only after your bio data is verified that you will be allowed to vote,” she said.