Aspirants from pastoral regions want mobile voter registration centres provided

Political aspirants from pastoral regions now want the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to provide mobile voter registration centres to the nomadic communities during the second round set to start next week.

Narok Woman Representative hopeful Lydia Masikonde has at the same time called on the migrating communities to ensure they register as voters.

The IEBC will roll out the second phase of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) from January 17th to February 6, 2022, in preparation for the August 9^th general elections.

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission received additional funding from The Treasury to facilitate the second and final phase of the continuous voter registration which he said targets to register 4.5 million new voters who were left out in the first phase.

The Commission rolled out Phase I of the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise from October 4^th to November 5, 2021, where a total of 1,519,294 eligible Kenyans were registered as new voters out of the targeted 6 million.

Briefing the press on the commission’s preparedness in Naivasha, Chebukati assured that the Commission was on course in planning and was putting in place measures and mechanisms to ensure free, fair, credible, verifiable, accountable and transparent General Elections.

The chairman said that the second phase of ECVR would offer another opportunity to eligible Kenyans, who missed the first phase in terms of registering as voters, transferring polling stations or changing their particulars.

“It is your constitutional right to register and vote in your preferred leaders come 9^th August 2022,” Chebukati told eligible youths who missed out in the first phase.

On diaspora Voter Registration, Chebukati said the registration for citizens residing outside Kenya would start on 21^st January 2022 and end on 6^th February 2022 with the exercise being conducted during the official working hours at the Kenyan Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates in respective countries.

He added that the Commission would use Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits to capture biometric and biographic details of the voters.

Meanwhile, a lobby group of young professionals from Kiambu County warn the IEBC against gazetting the date of the General election which is already stipulated in the constitution.

They argue the term of the Presidency starts after swearing-in but not the date of the election.