Mombasa,KENYA:Mombasa residents have expressed mixed feeling over the nationwide voter verification exercise which kicked off on Thursday in preparation for the August elections.
Speaking to Baraka fm on Thursday a resident who sought anonymity said he verified his name with the Independent and electoral Boundaries Commission IEBC officials and that his name appears in two polling different stations that are far apart and wondered why his name appears twice on the register despite only registering once.
“I confirmed twice in both stations and found my name appearing in two polling stations which are far from each other. It worries me whether I will have an opportunity to vote.” He said
At the same time, Fredrick Ochieng, a Likoni resident, said he will continue verifying as long as the exercise is in progress saying he wants to be able to vote his preferred presidential candidate in August General Elections.
According to Ochieng’ there is a need to change the system of government due to high cost of living., urging his fellow Kenyans to verify their names with IEBC in order to fulfill their constitutional right .
“I will continue verifying as long as the exercise lasts. We need to change the system of government due to rising prices in most of the essential commodities. It is the right of Kenyans to participate in the electoral process as the constitution demands.” Ochieng noted.
He claimed that the country has been producing inefficient leaders because most Kenyans are ignorant of their electoral and political rights.
However, for Margaret Okello, the verification process is futile exercise alleging that Kenyans already have decided who their leader will be in August elections .
She said that most Kenyans have realized their electoral and political rights and further added that they cannot be driven by selfish politicians who concentrate on their own interests.
“Kenyans have their leaders at the back of their minds. These are not the days when Kenyans were treated badly by self seeking politicians. I must admit that they have woken up from their overnight slumber’, She stated.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) kick off the Biometric voter verification exercise which will run until June 9, 2017 .Voters will be able to check and if need be, rectify their details during the one month-long exercise.
More than 10,000 gadgets have already been distributed countrywide for the exercise with the commission gazetting 290 staff to serve as Constituency Returning Officers and 47 County Returning Officers.
