IEBC says eligible millions didn’t vote

PHOTO | FILE Uncollected ID cards at the registration offices in Kisumu.

What you need to know:

  • To solve this, the national registration bureau needs to enhance the registration of persons, the commission recommends
  • The commission had aimed to register 18 million voters, meaning more than two million would still have missed out for lack of the identity documents

About 6.6 million eligible Kenyans did not participate in the last General Elections because they lacked national identity cards, the electoral commission has stated in its annual report.

“This means that one in every three Kenyans eligible to vote did not participate (in the General Election),” the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says in the report, tabled in the National Assembly by Majority Leader Aden Dualle.

To solve this, the national registration bureau needs to enhance the registration of persons, the commission recommends.

A report on the state of the economy before election, tabled last week, stated that the Department of Immigration and Registration of Persons had been allocated Sh156 million for speedy issuance of identity cards.

The IEBC eventually registered 14,388,781 voters in a process delayed by protracted procurement of biometric voter registration kits.

The commission had aimed to register 18 million voters, meaning more than two million would still have missed out for lack of the identity documents. 

The IEBC also wants the Elections Act amended to allow people providing essential services, such as police and those involved in logistic services, such as drivers, to vote in advance.