IEBC says drought cause of low voter listing in Marsabit County

Herders water their goats at Jaldesa water point, Marsabit County on January 19, 2017. IEBC says voter registration in the county is low as pastoralists opt to go look for pasture and water for their animals. PHOTO | KEN BETT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Most people are traversing the vast county in search of water and pasture as drought continues bite.
  • Only 6,000 people have registered in the county against a target of 41,600 new voters.
  • Ms Nkatha dismissed allegations by Cord that they have taken some BVR kits to Ethiopia to register non-citizens.
  • Mr Cheruiyot also dismissed the claims, saying only Kenyans with national IDs are being registered.

The prevailing drought in Marsabit County has contributed to low voter listing in the region, the electoral commission has said.

According to Ms Consolata Nkatha, the Independent and Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) vice chair, most people are traversing the vast county in search of water and pasture as drought continues bite.

She said they have moved mobile BVR kits to water points but they still find many of the potential voters without IDs cards.

"The voter registration is a bit low in the region. To find people at the centres has been very difficult but we have tried to move to where most of the herders have moved in search of water and pasture.

"Most of them tell us they have left their IDs at home,'' she said.

She was speaking on Monday at a press conference in Marsabit Town where she assessed the ongoing mass voter registration.

ONLY 14PC REGISTERED

Ms Nkatha disclosed that with two weeks remaining before the end of voter listing, only 6,000 people have registered in the county against a target of 41,600 new voters, which translates to only 14 per cent.

However, she expressed optimism that the number of registered voters will increase before the end of exercise on February 14.

She at the same time dismissed allegations by the opposition Cord that they have taken some BVR kits to Ethiopia to register non-citizens.

Moyale Deputy County Commissioner John Cheruiyot also dismissed the claims, saying only Kenyans with national IDs are being registered in the region.

"What is being said about Ethiopians being registered is untrue. Those being registered are Kenyans with IDs. Ethiopians don't have IDs in Moyale as far as we are concern. We are the people who are on the ground,'' he said.

Herders who spoke to the Nation said their first priority now is how to get water and pasture but not to register as voters.