KISUMU, Kenya, Oct 16 – Kisumu County has so far registered 9,629 new voters since the start of the mass registration exercise on October 4 with fears that the target of 124,160 new voters won’t be realized.
The County Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Election Manager Patrick Odame, on Saturday said the exercise was moving at a snail’s pace.
Odame said however said he is still optimistic of higher numbers as the exercise moves to a close in the next two weeks.
“We know of last minute rush in this country and we hope the numbers will climb,” he said.
In the data he shared out to the media on Saturday, Kisumu Central is leading with 2,153 new voters already registered followed by Muhoroni at 1,289, Nyando (1,205), Kisumu East (1,511), Kisumu West (1,435), Nyakach (1,028) and Seme (808).
Odame said they had set a weekly target of 28,971 new voters but they are doing far below the target.
“We can see that we are below the average, that means we must pull up our socks to be able to meet our target and surpass it if possible,” he said.
Kisumu is the backyard of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga and the low voter registrations could dent his ambition to become the fifth President of the Republic of Kenya.
Odame however said the remaining weeks are enough to turn the tide as he called upon other stakeholders to join hands and mobilize those who have not registered.
“We have young people who have acquired the Identity Cards and are yet to register, this is the group we are targeting with this one month long enhanced voter registration,” he said.
He reiterated the IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati’s announcement that there will be no extension of the mass voter registration period.
Odame said at the end of the registration period, all the gadgets will be returned to the IEBC Constituency offices.
“Once they are returned, anyone who has not registered will be forced to go to their constituency IEBC offices. Right now we have brought it close to the people and they should take advantage of it,” he said.
Kisumu County had 541,235 registered voters as at the last election in 2017. IEBC had projected to raise the numbers to 741,492 by the end of the registration period.
