Voter registration centers in Lamu record increased cases of BVR kits failure

0
1165

Lamu, KENYA:Most voter registration centers in Lamu have continued to register increased cases of failure of the BVR kits being used.

At the Fisheries centre on Lamu island and in Manda island,the clerks remained idle after the BVR kits failed to work even as the nationwide mass voter registration exercise entered its fourth day.

Locals and leaders alike have raised issues with the BVR kits and the general plan of the exercise saying many of them might be locked out of the exercise if prompt action isn’t taken to rectify the situation.

Residents have also poked holes in the electronic voter registration exercise saying it could lead to more serious issues in the general election itself if something isn’t done to address the problem.

A section of Lamu politicians are wondering the failure of the BVR machines during the exercise is a strategic plan by unknown individuals to sabotage the exercise and prevent their people from registering as voters.

Lamu women rep Shakilla Abdalla has called on the IEBC to intervene and promptly have the matter resolved in order to allow residents to partake in the exercise without hitches.

Abdalla said it was questionable that some of the BVR machines were already proving faulty yet the exercise was yet to hit halfway and wondered whether the IEBC had had the kits double checked before they were deployed to the various centers.

Shakilla said IEBC had a mandate to ensure all eligible and willing Kenyans are registered as voters and also ensure the entire exercise is free,fair and comprehensible to the public.

“Many centres have reported that the BVRs aren’t working. We can imagine and its only day four of this exercise.We don’t know what to think,whether  IEBC had the kits double checked or not,whether its deliberate of coincidental, all we care about is that we want the situation addressed faster so that our people can register as voters,”said Shakilla.

A total of 44 BVR machines have already been spread out in Lamu West and another 19 in Lamu East in order to aid in the exercise.

A total of 126 voter registration clerks have also been employed to conduct the exercise with the IEBC projecting the number of voters to be registered at 20,430 all over Lamu.

Comments

comments