A press conference by coalition of civil society organisations in Kenya, under the umbrella of Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu (KYSY), August 17, 2017. [Photo| @MyVoteMyVoiceKE]
A coalition of civil society organisations in Kenya, under the umbrella of Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu (KYSY) has released preliminary findings on the August 8, general election taking note of the declaration of the presidential election results on August 11.
The findings revealed "important contradictions and massive anomalies in all the numbers released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on the official record, on its website and through the chairman’s formal announcement."
Led by Samuel Mohochi and Gladwell Otieno, KYSY said, the numbers did not add up.After examining the number of valid votes in the presidential election, they found that a total voter turnout of 15,073,662 was announced, against 15,518,971 streamed on television screens at the time.
"The IEBC’s portal currently shows the number of votes cast as 15,591,217. There is a standing gap of 517,555 votes," said Mohochi.
The total number of registered voters certified after the KPMG audit was 19,611,423, he added, - down from 19,646,673 after cleaning up.
"The total number of ballots in the ballot packing list was 19,613,846. The IEBC chairman declared the total number of registered voters as 19,637,061, a difference of over 25,638 of the total register."
He noted that the number of registered voters in 45 counties also varied from what was announced on August 11.
"It bears repeating that register already carries more than one million dead voters, hundreds of thousands of shared identity cards and illegitimate entries as well as errors. Declaration of presidential election results was 25,658 votes above the 19,611,423 in the register," said Mohochi.
He added that there was a significant shift in the total number of registered voters, and that registered voter numbers varied from certified figure in 45 counties.
"The number of rejected votes on the IEBC portal stands at 403,489 against only 78,547 on 1,400 Form 34As we have analysed so far. Although the commission did not announce the number of rejected votes, the screen streaming results showed 401,903 rejected votes, even though a sum of the county totals was 400,796 while summing up constituency rejected votes on the portal yields 401,943."
Addressing the press, Thursday, KYSY indicated rejected votes in 288 constituencies did not match details in Form 34B, and there were no grand totals for rejected votes in 25 constituencies.
KYSY also revealed that there were glaring differences between results announced in the presidential election at county level and the totals from constituencies in those counties.
Mohochi cited Kisumu County, where he said valid votes summed up to 378,903 against 439,423 from the constituencies in the county, showing a deduction for 60,520 votes.
"Similarly, the valid votes in Kericho were announced as 294,215 against 303,470 votes on the portal, repressing a loss of 9,255 votes."
He said voter turnout exceeded the number of registered voters in four prison polling stations in the range of 129% to 182%.
"These differences are not only huge, but also point to serious problems with the election outcome as announced. At face value, they suggest a full audit of the results the IEBC has released and their reconciliation with the authentic documents from the polling station," he added, at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) offices along Gitanga Road, Lavington Nairobi.
KYSY expressed concern that the amount of missing data, a full week after the election, calls into question whether the declaration of results could be made legitimately.
The organisation indicated it will be enjoined in the presidential petition by the Opposition, National Super Alliance (NASA) at the Supreme Court, opposing the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, following the preliminary findings.
KYSY deployed over 500 monitors in all the 290 constituencies to monitor and observe the election. KYSY has also received observations from the public in pictorial, video and written form.