Gachagua man questions IEBC new kits, voter list credibility
National
By
Jacinta Mutura
| Oct 10, 2025
The credibility of the new Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) kits and ongoing voter registration have been called into question.
Governance expert and Secretary for Planning and Economic Affairs in the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) Peter Mbae has written to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) seeking answers on the process.
In a letter dated October 9, 2025, addressed to the IEBC Chairperson, Dr Mbae through his lawyer John Njomo expressed concerns over integrity of the voter registration system, citing possible loopholes for data manipulation and voter exclusion.
Mbae questioned why the new KIEMS kits are reportedly auto-populated with personal data from the National Registration Bureau (NRB), warning that the move could disenfranchise eligible voters whose details are not captured in the NRB database.
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“What happens where the National Registration Bureau does not have or does not submit a potential voter’s data? Does it mean that the Kenyan will not be registered as a voter?” he posed.
He further raised alarm over the potential misuse of NRB data, noting that if all personal information from the national registry is preloaded into the KIEMS kits, it could allow unscrupulous officials to register individuals altogether without their consent.
“The NRB data should only be used for verification that the ID number is valid. It should not be auto-populated into the KIEMS kit as that will make the exercise registration-centered as opposed to voter-centered,” the letter warned, adding that such a setup presents great potential for manipulation.
Mbae also questioned new voter identification features such as iris scanning, arguing that the commission has not sufficiently explained the necessity of the intrusive technology.
In the letter, Mbae demanded that IEBC chairman clarifies whether the current biometric features are insufficient and whether all voters would be subjected to the new system. How Section 2 of Elections Act defines biometrics that can be registered which includes IRIS. “IEBC is only picking two IRIS and Fingers prints. This is to act as complimentary mechanism should one fail the other one can recognize the person ensuring that we do not result to manual complimentary mechanism,” said Ann Nderitu, IEBC commissioner.
His letter further sought assurances that personal data collected during registration will not be shared with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) or any other state agency for “ulterior motives.”
On the issue of reliability, Mbae recalled the widespread failures of KIEMS kits during the 2017 and 2022 General Elections, which led to manual voter identification.
He challenged IEBC to guarantee that the newly procured kits will function effectively, asking whether the suppliers provided any assurances that previous system weaknesses had been resolved.