Clean up the mess in political party registry

The public deserves a proper explanation about fraudulent registration of voters to parties they don’t belong to. Not only is that a violation of an individual’s privacy and confidentiality but also sets a bad electoral precedent. It means citizens’ personal information can be extracted and used for mischievous endeavours.

Various scenarios play out. Some officials have dismissed it as a non-issue, surmising that the individuals could have registered in those parties but forgot about it. Others explain it merely as a small technology glitch. That does not make sense.

For a start, Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu and the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati, should compel all parties to clean their databases. More importantly, they should conduct thorough investigations into the matter.

Fake party registration is an offence under the Political Parties Act, which outlaws submission of false information.

Dubious acts

In context of party politics, this can be interpreted as part of a wider scheme to manipulate the electoral system. Kenya’s electoral process is fraught with deceit. Stealing of votes is prevalent at every stage. Parties seeking legitimacy are likely to engage in such dubious acts. At times, voters are misled and pushed into things they don’t understand. Quite often, politicians take advantage of them for selfish reasons.

Whichever the case, there is a problem. This is the reason Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji, should take up the matter and conduct thorough investigations to establish what happened. They have to get to the bottom of the matter. Most important, systems must be created to prevent a repeat. 

The country is preparing for crucial elections next year and every effort must be made to clean up the electoral system. Sanctity of the elections must be upheld.