Thursday January 19, 2017
By STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Clerks register a voter at Young Muslim Secondary School in Garissa town / STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Northeastern regional elections coordinator Saad Nur has said there could be a communications breakdown between the regional office and polling clerks in some towns along the Kenya-Somalia border.
This is after al Shabaab blew up communication masts and equipment in December last year.
They have not been rebuilt but must be restored before the August election.
Security strengthened
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, he said although the government has beefed up security, destruction of the Safaricom masts would be a challenge to the electoral commission.
“Garissa has a very long border with Somalia. The problem is some parts of Holugho have no communication.
“In the event any problem occurs in those centres, it might take some time before information comes to us so that we are able to take the necessary action,” Nur said.
Somali-based militants destroyed a Safaricom mast and a radio station last month in the border town of Hulugho.
Nur said Garissa county has 210 BVR kits which will be shared in the 43 centres.
Timetable for registration
They are not enough kits so the team has developed a schedule that will be posted in all registration stations to help voters know where the kits will be each day, he said.
Registration clerks will not be in one station, but will move from one place to another to register as many voters as possible, Nur said.
He said voter transfers will be done at the constituency offices by the registration officers.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission targets to register 40,600 new voters in the region, he said.
Countrywide voter registration began on Monday and will end on February 14.