Jubilee in strategy to convince youthful voters to elect UhuRuto
Deputy President William Ruto addresses a public rally in Kimilili, Bungoma County. The Jubilee youth league is now strategising to get youthful electorates to vote for the UhuRuto duo in the August 8 elections. PHOTO | REBECCA NDUKU | DPPS
What you need to know:
- Mr Keter Thursday said all is set to get the youth to vote for President Kenyatta.
- The party believes that getting out the vote and charging the youth to vote will be the game-changer.
- The Saturday convention will be addressed by Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party has now rolled out an elaborate strategy targeting an estimated nine million young voters whom they hope to convince not to vote along ethnic lines in the August 8 elections.
The party is targeting 3.3 million young voters who will cast their vote for the first time, having been registered between the 2013 elections and now.
Those who voted in 2013 but are still below the age of 35 are about 6 million, forming about 40 per cent of the registered 19 million voters, a Jubilee Party strategy paper says.
“In the last general election, for example, only 47 per cent (5.6 million) of the registered voters were young people of 18-35-years, and during election day there was a very low turnout in this category. The current voter registration rates suggest that this trend is set to continue,” Jubilee Party youth chairman Gideon Keter said Thursday.
YOUTH CONVENTION
The youth league will Saturday hold its national youth convention at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to further the strategy.
“The youth are the major stakeholders and determinant in the upcoming general election. We want to join efforts to rally behind President Kenyatta and his deputy to ensure their re-election,” said the team’s organising secretary, Osman Siyad.
In the August 8 elections, the party believes, getting out the vote and charging the youth to vote will be the game-changer in its bid to secure a second term against a renewed onslaught from the Raila Odinga-led National Super Alliance (Nasa).
6M YOUTH VOTERS
“A young person who joined campus in 2013 has never voted, using student statistics in universities, we have 6 million potential young voters who are elite and will vote not based on tribe but personal conviction,” Mr Keter said.
Mr Keter Thursday said all is set to get the youth to vote for President Kenyatta.
“Our job is to get as many young people as possible to show up and vote. We want to give them a reason to show up,” said Mr Keter.
He added: “We want to tell the youth what power means, so they can get fully involved.”
The convention will be addressed by Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju.
