Politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance Party (UDA) in Kilifi County have made a passionate appeal to residents to turn out in large numbers to register as voters in the second phase of the exercise going on countrywide.
They also called on the government departments issuing identity cards to release all the IDs being held in their offices so as to enable the locals to take part in the voter registration process.
The leaders spoke during a ceremony organized by former Malindi county council Chairman Peter Ponda who officially made a declaration of his candidature for Malindi Parliamentary seat in the oncoming general elections in a UDA ticket.
Ponda who is the Chairman of the Umwenga Wa Amidzi a Pwani Association that has been at the forefront in fighting for the rights of the local community said they are ready to mobilize chiefs and their assistants at the grassroots level to ensure the identity cards reach out to the owners.
He said it will be unfair for people to be locked out of voter registration exercise because their identity cards are being held by chiefs or the registrar of person offices yet it is their constitutional right.
“Today I was officially declaring my ambition to vie for Malindi parliamentary seat in a UDA ticket, I decided to do that because the status of Malindi, Kilifi, and the Coast at large requires a change in leadership and I found that where we can get the transformation is in UDA that’s why I made the declaration,” he said.
He said for him to win the seat there has to be votes which cannot be possible if people are not registered as voters.
Ponda said since this month there is an exercise that began on January 17 for mass voter registration, he urged the residents to register in large numbers so as to get the card because it is very important.
“People take the voter registration card lightly but it is the one which can make us get a bad MP or a bad governor so I emphasize on behalf of UDA all those from Malindi, Kilifi, and coast at large if you have not registered as a voter then the taking over of Coast is in your hands and it’s through that card,” he said.
Gerald Iha a Member of County Assembly aspirant from Jilore ward said they have set up plans to ensure the IEBC has a proper way to speed up the process of ensuring youth get registered in good time.
He said there has been a challenge in the time taken for one to complete the process but revealed they had liaised with the authorities to ensure it takes a short time for people to register quickly.
“We want to make sure those who had not got ID get them and are registered very fast,” he said.
Haman Chea who is also an MCA Aspirant Malindi town ward said they have set up plans to reach out to the grassroots to sensitize those who have IDs but have not registered as voters to do so.
“We have also asked the office of the registrar of persons to ensure if there are any pending IDs to be released immediately because I personally helped register over 2000 people to get IDs but have not been released,” he said.
Abdulrahman Omar a former MCA in Ganda ward said many youths do not have IDs because during vetting they are asked so many questions which discourages them from completing the process.
He asked chiefs to assist the chiefs so as to enable them to get identity cards and register as voters to exercise their constitutional rights of voting in the oncoming general elections.
Related reporting
More Tech →