Big political players traversing country to rally supporters to register to vote

Big political players are traversing the country to rally supporters to register as voters.

On Wednesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said it was registering an average of 94,000 voters daily against a target of 200,000, casting doubt on the possibility of achieving the six million target.

Mr Raila Odinga was in Kisumu, Siaya and Busia while Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Mr Moses Wetang’ula toured Wajir as Amani’s Musalia Mudavadi was in Nairobi.

On Thursday, President Kenyatta will begin a tour of six counties in Mt Kenya as concerns grow that young people are not turning up at registration centres.

In Kisumu and Siaya, Mr Odinga said the National Super Alliance was the way to go, adding that Jubilee had no chance of stealing the next election.

He said Nasa enjoyed the support of marginalised communities.

“We will defeat Jubilee with a margin they cannot afford to rig,” Mr Odinga said.

“The government is scheming to rig the elections using the manual backup system. We will monitor the voter registration, voting, tallying and counting of votes.”

He said failure of BVR kits showed the IEBC intended to revert to the manual system.

'LOW TURNOUT'

“In the past two days, voter registration has been characterised by a low turnout as a result of failing BVR kits. IEBC should ensure the gadgets are functional,” he said.

In Kawangware, Mr Mudavadi asked opposition supporters to unite and remove Jubilee from power.

“You need to pick the leaders you want by voting out Jubilee and bringing corruption to an end,” he said.

Mr Musyoka and Wetang’ula addressed a rally at Orahey grounds and expressed confidence of Cord’s win in the General Election. Mr Musyoka said he shared an ID number with a Ms Salome Wanjiru Njoroge who was born in 1993.

“This explains why the registrar of persons has been retained in office several years after attaining retirement age. Cord will not allow such machinations,” he said.

The two accused Jubilee of failing to tackle corruption and insecurity.

Mr Musyoka said there were 100,000 voters in Wajir County in 2013 “but we are here to ensure the number exceeds 200,000”.

Mr Wetang’ula appealed to locals to vote out Jubilee “for discriminating against Somalis in appointments”.

He said every Kenyan had a right to live and do business anywhere “and that is why when we heard about Kambas being targeted in Garissa, we spoke against the vice”.

Mr Kenyatta’s Mt Kenya visit will be the second in less than two months. He will hold rallies in Murang’a, Nyeri, Embu, Meru, Laikipia and Kirinyaga counties.

Politicians from the president’s backyard are worried about voter apathy.

VICIOUS BATTLE

Once again, the president will not be going to his Kiambu County backyard, where a vicious battle for the governor’s position pits incumbent William Kabogo against Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu.

The president will be in Murang’a on Thursday. The tour will begin at Blue Post and then Jogoo Kimakia, Gatunyu, Gatanga Junction, Gacharage, Kangari, Kigumo, Kirere, Muthithi, Kaharati, Maragua, Murang’a Town, Kahuhia, Kangema and Kiria-ini.

On Friday, he will be in Nyeri County, and is expected to visit Kiamariga, Kaburuini, Kawarigi, Karatina, Ichamara, Kiandu, Nyeri Town, King’ong’o, Kiganjo and Chaka.

On Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, Mr Kenyatta will be in Meru, Laikipia and Kirinyaga counties respectively. He will be in Embu on Wednesday.

“The President desires to see the largest number of Kenyans exercise their democratic right to register and cast their ballots in August,” said a press release from the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit. 

On Thursday, Deputy President William Ruto is expected in Narok and Kuria while he will be heading to Bomet, Kericho and Nandi counties on Friday.

He will be in Baringo and Uasin Gishu counties on Saturday.

RE-ELECTION PLAN

The president’s second visit to central Kenya in such a short time shows how important the voter registration and turnout are to Jubilee’s re-election plan.

Politicians have expressed alarm at reports that only 2,000 people were being registered per county every day.

During the last mass voter registration in March 2016, IEBC only listed 192,093 new voters in central Kenya against a 451,840 target.

Lack of enthusiasm and slow issuance of IDs have been blamed for the low uptake of voter cards that began on Monday.

“The youth are not registering and are not as enthusiastic as we expected them to be though we are trying to marshal them,” said Gatanga MP Humphrey Njuguna.

“Our people are not taking the voter registration seriously. They think Jubilee will win without them while some are waiting for the last-minute rush,” Mr Rigathi Gachagua, the brother of Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua who is vying for Mathira parliamentary seat said.

“Our people need to know that if we don’t register, we are handing victory to Raila Odinga,” said Tetu MP Ndung’u Gethenji and his Kieni counterpart Kanini Kega.

On Monday, Nyeri Town MP Esther Murugi stormed the Huduma centre to protest the slow issuance of cards.

Report by Justus Ochieng, Nelcon Odhiambo, John Njagi, Bruhan Makong and Guchu Ndung’u.