The Information Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has refuted claims by the opposition leaders that the Jubilee government plans to use the recently launched Jubilee membership smart cards to rig the August General Elections.
Mr Mucheru, in a statement to newsrooms on Thursday, said that his ministry is not interested in the August elections but is more focused on its roles of helping Kenyan youths access digital jobs, harnessing their creative talents to earn decent incomes through the Ajira Digital Programme and has no intention of engaging in electoral fraud.
“These guys are just speculating. They have no facts to back their wild allegations. Can they concentrate on the ongoing voter registration exercise instead of making allegations that only serve to heighten public anxiety,” said Mr Mucheru.
The CS was reacting to Amani National Congress Party (ANC) secretary general Godfrey Osotsi’s claims that the launch of the Jubilee cards and the timing of their membership registration were deliberately designed to coincide with the ongoing voter registration exercise so as to connect Jubilee election rigging experts to the IEBC voters’ database.
According to Ms Osatsi, the digital card launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, which the Jubilee government has directed its members to buy, is the key secret of the rigging plans by the government.
“It is not proper and legal for one political party to be given access to political data, the data on IEBC voter register, registration of persons and that on political party’s membership at the exclusion of other parties.
“No wonder we are getting reports of double registrations. This issue was not there in 2013, where is this issue coming from now, could it be linked to this smart card?” he said.
Cord leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula have also on several occasions warned Kenyans of a plan by the Jubilee government to rig the coming elections.
The Jubilee membership smart card was launched on January 13 during Jubilee aspirants meeting in Kasarani and has a unique bar code that captures the member’s details including name, identity card number and phone numbers.
The bar code is scanned to ascertain authenticity of membership and that of the card.
