Slow registration in Murang'a as IEBC targets 71,000 new voters

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The Niko Kadi campaign has started an ambitious drive to register more than 71,000 new voters in Murang’a county.

The campaign set to conclude at the end of the month, is expected to raise the number of registered voters in the county to about 700,000.

Saumu Chirchir, the county elections manager, has, however, noted that a low numbers of youths has been registered since the campaign started late last month.

So far, the commission has registered 18,227, far below the set target, despite the fact that clerks have been dispatched to the villages with Kiems kits.

“We’re calling on youths to use this opportunity to register because we are going to the grassroots level and there’s a Kiems schedule that we are giving out in each ward. Once 30-day campaign is over, registration will only be done in our offices,” Chirchir said.

At the same time, the DCP party that has thrown its weight behind the campaign that is being championed by the youths.

The party organised a roadshow in Mathioya constituency on Friday with the aim of rallying for more youths to come out and register.

The party’s youth coordinator in the county Michael Steve said the young people have been agitating for change which sparked the Gen Z protests that he said were a wake-up call to the youth to take their civic duty of voting seriously.

“We went to the streets to agitate for what we thought we needed in this country as the youth and many of us lost their lives while others sustained serious injuries,” he said.

The electoral process, he pointed out, will provide a peaceful platform for youths to agitate for their interests by voting in transformative leaders of their choice.

Despite forming the majority of the Kenyan population, the youth leader said the youths have struggled to have the right representation due to limited resources.

But with sufficient voting numbers, he noted that the youth can vote-in youthful leaders who fight for their rights.

“For a long time, we have been denied a chance at the table. Now we are saying we will bring our own table. We have the power to make change through the elections”.

Local leader Njathi Mwinga challenged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to dispatch as many Kiems kits as possible to the grassroots to make it easier for people to register.

In Mathioya, he said IEBC is targeting about 7,000 new voters and called on local administrators to help disburse ID cards lying uncollected in Huduma centres and registration centres.

“Our plea is to IEBC to get to the grassroots because we know many people struggle to get fare to travel to the registration centres,” he said.

Mwinga, who led the Mathioya drive, said participating in the elections will enable youths to actualise the issues they were calling for through the protests.

The youths, he said, wanted good governance, better education and health systems, and an affordable economy, saying this can be achieved by voting in leaders who have the capacity to implement them.

The party’s national youth leader Wanjiku Thiga said the party has been to several parts of the country pushing for more youths to come out and register.

She, however, raised concerns over the slow Identity cards issuance process that sees youths waiting for long periods of time, denying them much needed access to jobs and credit facilities.

Thiga pleaded with the government to ensure the process is hastened so as many youths can be registered before the campaign comes to an end.

“Our youths have become politically conscious. This is the highest time for everybody to ensure they are facilitated to register as voters. Let’s not frustrate them,” she said.

IEBC commissioner Ann Nderitu who spoke separately while meeting stakeholders in Murang’a town on the ongoing enhanced voter registration assured Kenyans that the commission is doing everything possible to register as many Kenyans as possible.

She said IEBC has created scheduled movements from one village to another in order to reach all areas and that some counties especially those in the Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) areas have had extra logistical support for clerks who have to travel long between villages.

“In areas where water travel is necessary, such as Lamu, boats have been availed. During the month, we’re taking registration from the offices to the village level and schools the youths are”.

She explained that IEBC plans to raise the number of registered voters from 22.1 million to 28.4 million by next year.

So far, the commission has registered 18,227, far below the set target, despite the fact that clerks have been dispatched to the villages with Kiems kits.

IEBC commissioner Ann Nderitu said the commission plans to raise the number of registered voters from 22.1 million to 28.4 million by next year nationally.