Florence Sambiri-Jaoko, the first interviewee in the search for Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners has unearthed some major blunders by the IEBC.

One of the colossal blunders pointed out by the interviewee was that of IEBC’s failure to update voter registration biometric records in 2017.

Jaoko, a former chairperson of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, and an Advocate of the High Court has a background in Human Rights and Governance.

She pointed out mistakes that happened in the voter registration for the 2017 elections under the watch of IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.

Chebukati who was appointed by President Kenyatta to take over at the helm of the IEBC was heavily criticized for the election blunders in 2017 in the period after the elections.

The human rights activist had been questioned on why no records of her being a registered voter could be found in the IEBC voter registration records. 

She defended herself saying that she has an elector’s card and that she even voted in the 2017 general elections.

Challenging the IEBC’s claims that she is not a registered voter, Sambiri-Jaoko recalled the incident in 2017 as she went to cast her vote, and no record of her could be found in the biometric system.

“I feel very bad. In 2017 when I went to vote I was shocked when I put my fingerprint there and they could not find me…and then I was given a book they checked and I wondered, I am in  St. Georges in Nairobi…if I can not be found by the biometrics, what about somebody who is from somewhere else…and there was no explanation, you are just moved to another place so I was not happy about it,” she recalled, putting a dent on IEBC’s claim of efficacy in its execution of voter registration.

Asked how she would rectify such mistakes of lack of proper voter registration and updating of voters details, Sambiri-Jaoko promised to have a continuous process of the Electoral Commission updating the voter register.

“This is about the IEBC ensuring that within the legal frameworks that they have and the regulations that they have that give them authority to update the voters’ register, to inform voters and to check on their details…it is for IEBC to clean up their voter registers and to be sure when they are updating,” replied Jaoko.

She promised to solve the problem of registered voters not appearing in the system among many other challenges that plague the IEBC ahead of the 2022 general elections.

Having had a fairly smooth performance in her interview, Sambiri-Jaoko was hilariously caught flat-footed when her mastery of Swahili was put to the test. She stuttered when asked how she would communicate to voters in Swahili if elected

The interviews for the search of IEBC Commissioners are now on the fourth day.