NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 6 — Former Attorney-General Justin Muturi has called on the government to urgently commission a comprehensive, independent forensic audit of the population master register, citing widespread irregularities in education data systems as a threat to public trust in key national databases.In a statement on Monday, the Democratic Party leader pointed to the latest audit of the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), which uncovered approximately 973,000 “ghost learners”, as a stark indicator of systemic weaknesses in government-managed registries.NEMIS, a centralized platform drawing from foundational identity records such as birth registration data, guides education planning and capitation funding. The discovery of hundreds of thousands of irregular entries has been linked to potential financial misappropriation through inflated school funding claims.“If such large-scale discrepancies can exist within an official government database, it raises serious questions about the integrity, management and verification of data across all interconnected national systems,” Muturi said.He warned that the anomalies expose vulnerabilities in data capture, validation processes, and inter-agency coordination, including with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which relies on population data for electoral planning.To safeguard the credibility of the national population database, Muturi demanded the immediate commissioning of an independent forensic audit of the population master register to establish its integrity, conducted transparently by credible private firms and subjected to public accountability. Freeze voter register He further urged Parliament and relevant oversight bodies to exercise strict supervision over the audit process to guarantee its independence and credibility.Pending the outcome of the audit, he called on the IEBC to refrain from relying on or altering the current population register. Muturi also pressed the electoral body to gazette polling stations early, publish a verifiable list of all polling centres, and ensure that each corresponds to a physically existing and accessible location.“This is essential if we are to protect Kenyans from the risks posed by non-existent or ‘ghost’ institutions, as exposed by the NEMIS audit,” he said.Muturi emphasized that doubts surrounding the integrity of national data systems must be addressed decisively and transparently, noting that Kenya’s democratic stability depends on reliable databases underpinning identity, governance, and public administration.“We reiterate our commitment to accountability, transparency, and the rule of law in the management of public affairs,” he added.