Residents change voting centres ahead of deadline

A man consults IEBC personnel about voter registration details at Nkunga Catholic Church on January 25, 2017. The deadline for registering voters is on February 14. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Miriti said many people without identification cards were turning up to be registered as voters using waiting cards, which they are not accepting.
  • About 180,097 people have registered as new voters in the Central Eastern Region that includes Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Meru counties.

Meru residents are on a last-minute rush to change their polling stations ahead of tomorrow's voter registration deadline.

Long queues were seen at the electoral agency's Central Eastern regional offices, where the locals have been turning up for the listing.

County registration officer George Miriti said voters had been flocking the constituency office since morning to change their polling stations.

"We have enough officers to address the concerns," he said.

A clerk at the Mohammed Muti polling station said the number of new voters was still low.

"We have not experienced any [technical problems]. So far the process is going on well but the numbers are still low."

Mr Miriti said many people without identification cards were turning up to be registered as voters using waiting cards, which they are not accepting.

"We can only register voters with IDs or passports but not waiting cards," he added.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba last week said only IDs and passports are considered valid documents for registration.

About 180,097 people have registered as new voters in the Central Eastern Region that includes Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Meru counties.

Regional IEBC coordinator Aluisia Kanini said Meru County had listed more than 117,000 new voters, Tharaka-Nithi 29,646 and Embu 44,719.

Senior politicians also met teachers at Meru National Polytechnic and urged them to be at the forefront in mobilising residents.

"We ask headteachers and principals whose schools have not been visited by the electoral commission for registration to notify us so that we as the Mt Kenya Foundation secretariat can ask them to do so," said Mutuma Nkanata, the foundation's coordinator.