Top leaders fail to rally home support in crucial exercise
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said it is targeting 4.5 million potential voters to be registered when it announced the second round of the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
In the first round of the drive that ran for one month ending November 5, last year, the IEBC listed 1.51 million new voters, translating to about 25.3 per cent of its target of six million voters. The number of new voters if the IEBC had hit its target were enough to propel any candidate to State House.
However, the final figures of the recent registration exercise are an indictment of the national leaders and party leaders. Despite many of them staking a claim either by contesting for the top seat or galvanising voters in support of a candidate, the numbers are low.
So important was the exercise that leaders used all means to push the potential voters to register.
Alarmed by the poor turnout in his strongholds, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga berated the constituents saying if he is not assured of numbers, then contesting is a zero-sum game. “This thing is not a joke. Do you want me to stop? If you do not register as voters, then there is no need for me to contest,” he said.
Youths adamant
However, after the final numbers were released, in Raila’s backyard of Bondo constituency, only 7,708 new voters were enlisted. Deputy President William Ruto’s Turbo constituency managed 2,000 votes less than Raila where 5,752 were registered as new voters.
In the Sabatia constituency, the political bedrock of Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, only 2,142 new voters were registered. His Kenya Kwanza counterpart did not fare any better. Ford Kenya supremo Moses Wetangula’s Sirisia constituency managed to enlist 2,259.
One Kenya Alliance leader also had problems getting the youth to register as voters. In Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s Mwingi North constituency, only 3,296 new voters were enrolled. In Kanu’s Gideon Moi’s Baringo Central, 2,531 was the final tally. Narc Kenya’s leader Martha Karua managed to register 2,416 as new voters in Gichugu.
Lower count
Areas where candidates have been scouting for running mates also did poorly. Mathira where Rigathi Gachagua, who has been touted as a frontrunner for the deputy position in UDA managed to register 3,593 new voters. Peter Kenneth’s name has been dropped on many occasions as a possible running mate of Raila. However, the numbers from his Gatanga constituency point to the worrying national trend. A paltry 2,818 new voters were registered.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Mount Kenya backyard did not replicate its infamous tyranny of numbers with the region registering a much lower count. The figures are as follows: Nyandarua 10,975, Muranga (18,080), Kirinyaga (12,193), Nyeri (15,076), Laikipia (7,750), Kiambu (52,576), Meru (30,523), Embu (12,108) and Tharaka Nithi (7,819).
