CS Mucheru Responds to Ruto's 1 Million Missing Voters Claims

Deputy President William Ruto together with ICT CS Joe Mucheru at a past event.
Deputy President William Ruto together with ICT CS Joe Mucheru at a past event.
File

Information Communications Technology Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru, has faulted Deputy President William Ruto for claiming that government officials breached the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) system to alter the voters' register.

Speaking at a forum in Murang'a county on Friday, June 4, Mucheru insisted that the government, specifically his Ministry, did not have any access to the electoral body's servers.

The CS stated that his Ministry was only offering a supporting role to the IEBC even as the electoral body prepares for the August 9 polls.

IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati addresses 2022 presidential aspirants at a pre-candidate registration meeting at the  Bomas of Kenya on Monday, May 23, 2022
IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati addresses 2022 presidential aspirants at a pre-candidate registration meeting at the
Bomas of Kenya on Monday, May 23, 2022
IEBC

"Let me be clear, we do not get involved in running the elections. People are saying that Mucheru has access to servers and can decide who is voting or going where. 

"The servers are managed and run by the IEBC. We had a joint team that was looking into election preparedness and IEBC stated that they would do that themselves and they did not want us to get involved," he stated.

However, he questioned how the DP knew that most of the affected voters were from his region even as he asked the electoral body to be neutral in handling all election related issues.

"I learned that IEBC is giving access to other people to know how many are in that database. The chairman (Wafula Chebukati) has stated that the register will be ready by June 9. We have heard them say that they have ideas of who is moving where. Even us, we would like to have access and only if they allow us."

During a meeting with diplomats drawn from the European Union, Ruto claimed that the breach was orchestrated by unnamed government officials with the sole purpose of influencing the outcome of the August 9 polls.

The DP was making reference to an internal memo by the electoral body where concern was raised over the mass transfer of voters from their polling stations.

"We will take a position as a party, we are writing to the IEBC as you have seen in the media that there was an attempt to obliterate names from the IEBC register and so far, almost 800,000 names, about 1,000,000 names have somehow disappeared from the register and it is in the public domain. I think the IEBC has stated that they are doing some remedial steps," the DP stated then.

However, IEBC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Marjan Hussein Marjan, refuted claims that the systems were breached by non-officials of the Commission, further insisting that the anomaly in the voter transfer would be rectified in the coming weeks.

"We are confident in the system that we currently have. The access to the central server by the returning officers is through a private network and not a public network. Each returning officer has got access rights," the CEO stated.

European Union Ambassador to Kenya, Henriette Geiger and President William Ruto pose for a photo with other diplomats
European Union Ambassador to Kenya, Henriette Geiger and President William Ruto pose for a photo with other diplomats and Kenya Kwanza leaders at his former Karen home on Thursday, June 2, 2022
DPPS