The electoral body and Jubilee leaders led by President Uhuru Kenyatta have condemned Cord leader Raila Odinga over his claims that the government is registering foreigners as voters.

President Kenyatta dismissed Mr Odinga’s claims, saying opposition leaders are making absurd claims because they have sensed defeat.

“Kenyans are the ones registering and claims that we are registering Ugandans are ridiculous,” he said.

The President said the opposition leader is plotting to cause chaos if he loses elections.

“These claims he is making that we are registering foreigners are just a ploy to cause chaos and reject results if he loses elections. Let us send him home by 6am (in the August elections),” he told residents in Kutus, Kirinyaga County.

IEBC RESPONDS

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Communications Manager Andrew Limo, in a statement, denied claims by Mr Odinga that its biometric voter registration kits are being used to register foreigners.

“We would like to categorically state that no Commission BVR equipment is in the hands of strangers. We can account for all the BVR kits deployed for the ongoing MVR (mass voter registration), and the personnel operating them,” he said.

He said anyone with information on illegal issuing of national identity cards should report it to the relevant institutions.

Nominated MP Johnson Sakaja also defended the government against Mr Odinga’s accusation that the National Intelligence Service is being used to register foreigners as voters.

‘RECKLESS STATEMENTS’

“As Jubilee we know that Raila Odinga knows he cannot stop the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta so now he is looking for excuses to use when he loses.

“Unfortunately he (Raila) does not seem to understand that these institutions do not just serve him (President Kenyatta), they serve 40 million Kenyans. Such reckless statements undermine their effectiveness,” said Mr Sakaja at Parliament.

Earlier, Mr Odinga had in a statement claimed that the spy agency was facilitating the importation of people from Uganda and Ethiopia to register as voters with plans for them to vote for Jubilee in the August elections.

“We have credible information that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is once again heavily involved in the on-going voter registration with the aim of influencing results in August in the same way it did in 2007 and 2013,” Mr Odinga said.