Storm as Hassan Omar suggests using dead voters' fingerprints for Ruto re-election

Speaking during a political engagement in Mombasa on September 11, Omar suggested that the fingerprints of people who had recently died should be taken before burial and used to cast votes in their names.

“Two-term William Ruto, on election day, we too will be in a do-or-die battle. Even if someone has died, we should take their finger before we bury them, put it into the BVR and cast a vote. Even someone who has died today.”

He made the remarks shortly after officially declaring his bid for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat in the 2027 General Election.

Omar announced his candidacy during a rally in Jomvu, Mombasa, where he also took aim at incumbent Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, saying he should prepare for a one-term tenure.

The UDA Secretary-General accused the county administration of failing Mombasa residents and criticized its record of governance.

His comments come against the backdrop of previous concerns over the presence of deceased persons on Kenya’s voter register.

On August 10, Transparency International Kenya Executive Director Sheila Masinde called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct a comprehensive audit of the national voter register and remove the names of deceased voters ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Masinde said concerns over the accuracy and integrity of the voter register have persisted through successive election cycles and have featured in presidential and other electoral petitions.

"We need a thorough audit of the register so that those voters, for instance those who were deceased, and names that need to be removed are removed before then because there have always been questions around that,” Masinde stated.

Shocked by Omar's audacious statements, Kenyans took to social media to voice their concerns, express their opposition to the plot and slam Omar's highly controversial voting methods.

One X user wrote, "Wait, did Hassan Omar actually say out loud that they should chop off dead people's fingers to vote for Ruto? This is not just illegal; it is demonic and absurd. How low can political discourse go?"

Someone else said, "A former human rights commissioner suggesting we desecrate corpses for 2027 election votes?! Hassan Omar has lost his mind completely. Kenya is not a crime scene! IEBC and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) need to invite Hassan Omar for questioning immediately."

Kimani Jim, yet another shocked X commenter, noted: "Fingerprinting dead relatives before burial just to force a 'two-term' presidency? We have reached a level of desperate political madness that I never thought was possible. What happened to free, fair, and credible elections?"

On her part, X user Regina Gathoni wrote: "Cutting fingers off our deceased loved ones to pass through KIEMS kits? Is this a horror movie or real-life Kenyan politics? Hassan Omar must apologize to the nation!"

Ahead of the 2022 General Election, an independent audit by KPMG identified several anomalies in the 22.5 million-record voter database, including 246,465 deceased voters listed on the roll.

Allegations of a plot to manipulate the 2027 General Election have intensified, with opposition leaders pointing to election technology, the voter register and remarks by politicians allied to President William Ruto.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused the IEBC and government of laying the groundwork to rig the election through a proposed new Integrated Elections Management System.

Gachagua claims the procurement process is being tailored to favour South Korean firm Miru Systems and has warned that migrating to a new system could be used to interfere with the voter register.