President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are among the estimated three million names missing from those verified as having backed the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has, however, described the list as an interim report, with the possibility of another list being published with some more names.
“The commission would like to clarify that the data capture and verification process is still going on as planned and, should any supporter miss their name in the interim list, then it is still in the verification stage. A full list of supporters shall be published at the end of the exercise, ” Mr Chebukati said in a statement on Thursday after Kenyans noticed the bigwigs’ names missing from the list.
Other BBI backers’ names missing include Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, trade unionist Francis Atwoli, Jubilee secretary General Raphael Tuju and vocal ruling party vice chairman David Murathe.
The lists published online are in two folders: One 15,152 pages long, and the other 5,266 pages long.
With 20,418 pages of people’s data with each page having an average of 65 names, the IEBC has published a total of 1.327 million names.
From the 4.4 million signatures the BBI team presented, the commission has weeded out a staggering three million names from the list.
“The commission undertook data cleaning by removing incomplete records, which include missing signatures, identification numbers and names, as well as duplicates and those not in the register of voters,” IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said in a statement.
The publishing of the list on Thursday gives an opportunity to those that suspect that their names were included in the list of those backing the BBI Bill without their consent.
If that is so, you have until Monday, January 25, to check the list published online and have them expunge your name as the country gears towards a BBI referendum mid this year.
The commission is required by law to publish the names of those that constitutional amendment promoters — just like the BBI — say back their Bill to allow those whose names have been erroneously included to indicate their objections.
“Anyone who has been captured as a BBI Constitutional Amendment Bill supporter without their consent can report to the commission by sending a duly signed objection letter either scanned and emailed to RPIT@iebc.or.ke or dropped at the IEBC offices, Anniversary Towers, Nairobi, 7th floor, latest by 5pm on Monday, January 25, 2021,” Mr Chebukati said.