IEBC Says Stolen Electronic Equipment Not Used in 2017 and 2022 Elections

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has clarified the theft of electronic equipment from its warehouses.

The election commission said it lost 952 electronic voter identification devices (EVID), 125 biometric voter registration (BVR) kits, and 1,315 hard disks.

In its Public Accounts Committee report for 2020/2021 presented to Parliament, IEBC says the equipment may have been stolen from its warehouses in Kisumu, Nandi and Tharaka Nithi counties between 2013 and 2021.

The commission clarified that the stolen equipment did not pose any threat to the credibility of the 2017 and 2022 general elections as the devices were not used in both elections.

“Instead, the Commission used the Kenya Integrated Electronic Management System (KIEMS) kits. EVIDs have since become obsolete and their net book value is zero,” IEBC said in a statement.

“Data stored in the BVR kits, if any, is automatically encrypted by the application system to ensure integrity and confidentially,” it added.

IEBC further said the stolen devices were procured in 2012 for use in the 2013 general election.

IEBC CEO Hussein Marjan said since the devices cannot be used and are attracting costs in form of storage and security, they have been lined up for disposal in line with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 and its attendant regulations.