Lobbies in bid to woo youth voters

Two political lobbies have moved fast to take advantage of free identity card applications and launched drives to facilitate youths to get the documents.

The Friends of Raila (FORA) and the Vijana Tuko Pamoja separately set targets that will boost supporters of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming elections.

FORA roots for Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s presidency while Vijana Tuko Pamoja campaigns for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.

Fora chairman Micah Kigen on Monday night welcomed Cabinet's decision to scrap the Sh300 fee saying many youths in the country cannot afford it.

“We are now facilitating the youths to get the cards. We are telling them it is the only weapon to secure their future,” said Mr Kigen in Nairobi.

Vijana Tuko Pamoja chairman Geoffrey Muya launched the drive in Nairobi and announced the first area of operation would be Kajiado North where a by-election is scheduled for next month.

He said the lobby is targeting 300,000 youths in the next three months.

“We are setting up registration centres in several counties starting with Nairobi, Kajiado and Murang’a. We shall also use the opportunity to register the youths into The National Alliance (TNA),” said Mr Muya on Monday night.

A fortnight ago, Cabinet scrapped the fee for those applying for the first time and also those replacing lost ones.

Estimates from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that eligible youths who will vote for the first time in 2013 are about 4 million.

Both Mr Kigen and Mr Muya gave elaborate plans to woe the youth to their side.