IEBC pulls down 2017 General Election report following public uproar over errors

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) pulled down the 2017 General Election report a day after publication following public uproar over numerous irregularities.

The commission, in a statement released on Sunday, said “a few typographic errors occasioned by massive data were noted” hence the document had been recalled and will be “re-uploaded and shared in due course.”

The commission, in a press release signed by Chairman Wafula Chebukati announcing publication of the report on Saturday, stated that the number of voters rose to 19,611,423 in 2017 from 14,388,781 in 2013.

17.4% of them were aged between 18-25 years – a slight increase from 17% in 2013 – and 47% of the registered voters were male while 53% were female.

“A total of 14,523 candidates contested in the August 8, 2017 General Election out of which 4,002 were independent candidates,” read the statement.

“To facilitate voting, the commission increased the number of polling stations to 40,883 from 31,981 in 2013. In addition, there were a total of 103 polling stations in prisons and 10 polling stations outside the country namely: Uganda (2), Tanzania (3), Rwanda (2), Burundi (1), and South Africa (2).”

It further added: “The voter turnout for the August 2017 presidential election was 78% as compared to the 2013 General Election, which recorded a higher voter turnout of 86%. In terms of rejected votes, the August 2017 presidential election recorded 81,685 rejected votes compared to 2013 which had 108,975.”

IEBC however came under fire for a few glaring mistakes including wrongful listing of Members of Parliament for various constituencies as well as the political parties some of them vied on.

The report listed Suba North MP as Noah Odhiambo instead of Millie Odhiambo, who it also said had vied on an Amani National Congress (ANC) party ticket instead of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.

Kabondo Kasipul MP was listed as Silvance Osele instead of Dr. Eve Obara; Dagoretti South MP as Dennis Waweru instead of John Kiarie; and the 2017 election winner for Kibra parliamentary seat as Judah Martin Oduor instead of the late Ken Okoth.