KPMG promises clean poll register after audit

KPMG-East Africa chief executive Josphat Mwaura. The firm won a tender to scrutinise the 19.63 million-person register with the exercise expected to end by April 29. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By PATRICK LANGAT

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Summary

• Audit firm promises to deliver clean roll of voters ahead of August election.
• KPMG won the controversial tender to scrutinise the 19.63 million-person register with the exercise expected to end by April 29.
• The IEBC will, based on its recommendations, strike out those invalidly registered, correct those whose...details were erroneously entered and fill out existing gaps in the register ahead of the voter register verification on May 10.

Audit firm KPMG will use death and birth data in a what it says will be a rigorous audit of the roll of voters, a process that could lead to recommending thousands of Kenyans be struck off the current register.

The company said it will also use the 2009 population census to assess, based on growth projections, the number of voters in a particular area before making its recommendations to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The Kenyan arm of the global audit firm, one of the three largest such companies in the world, won the controversial tender to scrutinise the 19.63 million-person register with the exercise expected to end by April 29.

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After the 21-day audit, KPMG will then report its findings to the IEBC who will - based on its recommendations - strike out those invalidly registered, correct those whose details were erroneously entered and fill out existing gaps ahead of the voter register verification on May 10.

IEBC to make final decision

During the verification, registered voters will check whether their biometric details entered in the roll are correct.

“Voter register has been used as the primary instrument used to perpetrate voter mischief. The audit is therefore to build public trust in the register and provide confidence that it can provide a foundation for a free, fair and credible election,” said KPMG chief executive Josphat Mwaura.

He insisted that while they will make recommendations on irregular registrations, the final decision on who should be on the roll of voters lies with the IEBC.

Opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka had early this year claimed that some voters were registered with invalid IDs and expired passports, which they claimed was a scheme to rig the poll in favour of the status quo.

Auditing of the voters' roll was also one of the emotive issues when a 14-member bi-partisan committee deliberated on the exit of the Isaack Hassan-led team.

The opposition has banked its hopes on cleaning up of the register, which it says is not up to date.

“The aim of this audit is to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the records. We are going to look at the birth register, to ascertain if there are people who are in the register before the age of 18, and the death register to recommend removal of those who have died,” said Mr Gerald Kasimu, a KPMG partner.