16 January 2017•Update: 17 January 2017
By Magdalene Mukami and Andrew Wasike
NAIROBI, Kenya
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Monday kicked off a nationwide voter registration exercise ahead of the Aug. 8 general elections, aiming to cover 22 million voters by election day.
In most centers, hundreds of Kenyans were seen lining up early morning to complete the registration process before heading out to work.
While addressing a press conference, the election commission’s Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba said phase two of the 30-day countrywide registration process would provide an opportunity to eligible Kenyans to register their votes in the upcoming elections.
A spot-check conducted by Anadolu Agency at various registration centers in Nairobi showed that many Kenyans who had not registered before turned up to have their details taken down to be able to participate in the upcoming polls.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, former Kenyan premier and leader of opposition, were at the forefront on Monday rallying their supporters to ensure they get registered.
Joyce Mueni, 35, a mother of two, who had been discouraged by the slow process of registration last year this time chose to wait for as long as it took during the ongoing exercise.
“The lines were long and the machines had technical issues on the day that I went to register, but now it only took 10 minutes, I believe that those who have not registered to vote are the ones who vote in bad leaders by not voting,” Mueni said.
Chiloba told reporters that 14.4 million Kenyans enrolled as voters before the March 2013 general election, while the number increased to 15.9 million Kenyans by December 2016.
He said that the election body was confident that by the end of the registration process next month at least 6 million more voters would be registered.
Analyst George Musamali said he does see the pledge being fulfilled.
“First, I don’t think that [the election commission] IEBC has done enough to be able to register the targeted number of people; we are talking about 6 million people, these people are supposed to be registered electronically and so far, IEBC have confessed that they are short of equipment, meaning it will actually be able to register less than 6 million people,” Musamali said.
According to the National Registration Bureau over 9 million Kenyans have been issued with national identification cards but remained unregistered as voters.
