The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said that more than 128,000 people share identification details in the voters’ register.
Led by Chairman Wafula Chebukati, who took office last week, the commission said the figure of Kenyans sharing the all-important document is over 128,000, a worrying figure as Kenyans head to the polls in August.
This comes days after Cord leaders led by Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka complained of sharing same ID numbers with other voters, an issue that has raised concerns over the accuracy of the register.
According to Chebukati, the problem may have been caused by erroneous data entered by clerks, or simply applicants submitting the same details to different IEBC officials for registration.
“From our assessment, this represents 0.8 per cent of registered voters. But the commission is working with the National Registration Bureau to clean up the database as soon as possible,” he said.
Kenyans will be able to know their registration status once the registration exercise is complete, with verification planned then.
"The commission will also make available the register for verification once the registration is complete. Those who are registering twice should get the message that we shall take the necessary action," said the new IEBC boss.
The commission kicked off the registration exercise on Monday last week, and aims to register over 6 million people by February 16.
However, there has been a low turnout in the last week of registration, with the commission hoping to turn things around as the days go by.