The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says the stolen electoral equipment was for use during the 2013 polls.
In a statement on Wednesday, the agency clarified that the equipment was procured in 2012.
“These identification devices were not used in the 2017 and 2022 general elections, instead the Commission used the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management Systems (KEMS) kits,” says the agency.
It added that the equipment in question was Electronic Voter Identification Devices (EVID) not “electronic voter identity documents”.
The electoral agency stated that EVIDs are no longer valid and have no net book value.
IEBC also noted that the ‘useless’ nature of the devices has seen that they are lined up for disposal, as they are attracting costs in storage and security.
Further, the commission revealed that the missing 125 Bio-metric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, were procured in 2011.
The BVR kits, it explained contained raw registration data that has not been processed for inclusion in the register of voters, hence pose minimal risks.
“Furthermore, data stored in the BVR kits, if any, is automatically encrypted by the application system to ensure integrity and confidentiality,” it continued.
The IEBC reaffirmed that the usage of KIEMS technology in future registration procedure has been completely implemented.
“Therefore, the lost kits will not interfere with the credibility of the election and its related processes,” it said.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan said 952 Electronic Voter Identification System (Evid) laptops, 125 Biometric voter registration (BVR) kits and 1,315 hard disks were stolen between 2012 and 2021.
The Kisumu County warehouse and Muhoroni, Emuhaya, Karachuonyo, Kajiado North and Nyando constituencies were some of the areas affected by the theft.
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