Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Trans Nzoia Senator Allan Chesang and Endebess MP Robert Pukose on Sunday crossed into Amanang in Uganda’s Bukwo District, where they declared they were “home.”
The visit took place in the same border area that has been at the centre of allegations of irregular voter registration. According to reports circulating on social media, the area is said to host more than 100,000 people holding both Kenyan and Ugandan national identity cards who have been registered as voters.
The officials’ presence in Amanang came hours before KTN News aired a report examining claims of voter smuggling along the Kenya-Uganda border. The television segment focused on allegations that Kenyans living in the area had been issued national identity cards and registered to vote, raising questions about the integrity of the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general election.
Amanang sits in a region with longstanding cross-border communities, particularly among the Sebei people who straddle the two countries. Local residents and political figures have previously pointed to the ease of movement across the poorly marked border as both a cultural reality and a potential avenue for electoral irregularities.
MP Robert Pukose, whose Endebess constituency borders Uganda, has faced similar accusations in the past. In 2022, police intercepted lorries allegedly ferrying voters from Uganda into Trans Nzoia, an incident in which the MP was present and assisted some of those detained to leave the scene.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has rejected recent claims of organised cross-border voter registration. In a statement issued on Sunday, the commission said no KIEMS kits had been moved into Uganda and that allegations of foreign nationals being registered as Kenyan voters remained unsubstantiated.
Cabinet Secretary Murkomen has previously addressed the issue of Kenyans living across the border, encouraging them to obtain identity documents either through the Kenyan embassy in Kampala or by crossing back into Kenya. He has maintained that the government does not discriminate against citizens living near international borders when processing national identification and voter registration.
The latest visit and the accompanying claims have already drawn political reaction. Opposition figures, including Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi, have called on the IEBC to investigate remarks made by Murkomen during earlier engagements in Uganda concerning documentation for border communities.
Add Comment