IEBC Claims 200 KIEMS Kit Reported To Have Failed

In response to allegations of KIEMS Kit failures in a number of polling places around the nation, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has taken action.

IEBC commissioner Justus Nyang’aya refuted rumors of widespread KIEMS kit failure during a news conference on Tuesday, claiming the limited incidents were caused by typical technological failure.

Only 200 kits had been reported to have malfunctioned by the time the IEBC gave an update on Tuesday at around 1 PM.

“What we have received and addressed is about 200 failure of KIEMS kits out of 46,229 kits, this is not a widespread break down,” Nyanga’aya told the media.

“Technology breaks down and when it does we have ways of how we address this, which we have already done, I think this is a normal thing what is happening
Nyang’aya claims that although the IEBC expects some of the kits to malfunction, this does not necessarily mean that the mistakes are pervasive.

Juliana Cherera, the deputy chairman of the IEBC, spoke about the state of the elections nationwide during the same press conference.

The returning officer may email the IEBC to ask authorization to utilize the manual register after ICT officers are assigned to investigate a kit failure, according to Ms. Cherera.

Candidate for president George Wajackoyah was one of the electors who had to wait early on Tuesday after the polling kits at the Indangalasia Primary School site malfunctioned.

Speaking to the media at Indangalasia Primary School, the presidential candidate expressed his disappointment and blamed the IEBC for the lapse.

“I am a disappointed man because all my competitors have voted; I am told Raila voted, Mwaure has already voted. I just spoke with him to congratulate him, and Ruto has voted. So why only me? Why Kakamega County? Why didn’t they test the kits?… I don’t know what to say,” he said.

Prof. Wajackoyah further termed Kakamega as one of his main voter strongholds, saying the delay was robbing him of significant support for his bid.

“I am not an engineer and if they tell me the kits are not working, then I listen to them. I have lost millions of votes, Kakamega is one of my strongholds,” he added.