Thika tops Kiambu County in new voter registration.
The mass voter
registration exercise in Kiambu County which ends today was characterised by
low turnout with most people blaming it on lack of information on registration
centres. Most residents who spoke to Thika Town Today said that they were aware
that the process had started but could not establish where the BVR Kits were
located.
The exercise was
also affected due to the few clerks posted by the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (I.E.B.C.) since most Electoral Wards are expansive and
cannot be effectively covered by two officers.
The low voter
turnout goes beyond political apathy and points to an unresponsive bureaucracy.
Some of the major challenges faced by the residents include
- Lack of ID cards
- Poor vetting systems that is slowing down the issuance of the IDs
- IEBC logistics
- The low number of registration clerks in the vast county.
Preliminary stats
from IEBC show that Thika Town Constituency had recorded the highest turnout in
the first two weeks of the registration drive, with 5,439 new voters. It is the only constituency
that hit the 5000 voters mark in the county with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Gatundu
South backyard registering a paltry 2,141 voters.
CORD leader Raila Odinga's Nyanza backyard leads in new voter registration. According to information collected by the electoral commission in the first two weeks of the registration drive that ends today, Nyanza Region had registered 38,153 new voters, followed by Nairobi County (27,009), Eastern Region (26,281), Central (26,163), Coast (25, 934), Western (24,633), Rift Valley (21,590) and North Eastern Region (7,379).
Of the 290
constituencies, Alego Usonga, Bondo and Kisumu Central had recorded the highest
turnout in the first two weeks of the registration drive. Alego Usonga had registered 8,824 voters
while Bondo had 8,511 and Kisumu Central 7,342.
Other constituencies
that had registered high numbers were Ndhiwa (7,049), Kisumu West (7,342),
Mathare (6,526), Gem (6,403), Kisumu East (6,255), Naivasha (6,090), Rarieda
(6,067) and Kanduyi with 6,048.
In the Central Kenya
region, Kinangop Constituency with 5,593 new voters, followed by Mwea (5,557),
Thika Town (5,439), Githunguri (4,867) with Kieni completing the top five with
4,707.
No constituency in Murang’a County had registered more than 4,000. Kiharu led with 3,798, followed
by Kagumo with 3,563.
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