The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has dismissed a report alleging that the new chairperson, Erastus Edung, announced the registration of over Ksh3.5 million voters from the North Eastern region.
Through the official IEBC page, the commission flagged a social media post as fake, effectively distancing itself from the report.
In the initial post, which has been gaining traction on TikTok, it was alleged that "Edung has announced that more than 3.5 million people will be registered following key reforms in immigration laws that had previously hindered the process."
The reports led to another spate of criticism aimed at the IEBC, as sections of Kenyans faulted the commission for allegedly engaging in malpractice, two years to the projected date of the next general polls.
Notably, this was the third clarification the IEBC has had to issue, as the new chairperson and commissioners battle to gain public trust, days after their swearing-in.
On Sunday, the IEBC condemned claims of a plot to rig the 2027 General Election with a warning to political figures.
In a statement on the evening of Sunday, July 13, the commission flagged what it described as “unacceptable and reckless" comments from sections of politicians which had the potential to erode trust in the electoral process.
“The Commission is concerned about statements on election malpractices in the country. Such utterances are unacceptable and reckless in a democratic society such as ours,” the statement read in part. “IEBC urges all Kenyans to ignore or disassociate with them.”
Days earlier, the commission was also forced to clarify a downtime on the voter registration portal amid reports from Kenyans that they were being de-registered as voters.
In their statement, the IEBC clarified that the commission had embarked on the migration of its systems to a new digital infrastructure aimed at enhancing service delivery through system performance and security.
The agency averted concerns by reiterating that the credentials of all 22,120,458 voters in the portal remained intact.
With the swearing-in of new commissioners, the IEBC is now fully constituted and expected to resume key electoral processes, including Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
