over half a million ID holders in Kilifi yet to register as voters

Over half a million adults in Kilifi County are yet to register as voters, the independent electoral and boundaries commission (IEBC) has revealed.

Kilifi county elections manager Abdulwahid Hussein on Monday said since 2017, the government has issued over 500 thousand Identity Cards but only eleven thousands people registered as voters.

Speaking during the launch of the Voter Education week in Kilifi, Hussein urged leaders to sensitize the public to register as voters.

“Since 2017 we have registered only 11 thousand people. So many people are yet to come out to register as voters,” he said

Hussein said this year alone, IEBC is targeting to register 15, 000 voters in Kilifi county.

In the continuous registration exercise, Kilifi north has registered 3, 089 voters against a target of 3, 059 which is 101 percent.

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Rabai constituency has registered 1, 319 voters against a target of 1, 510. Kilifi south had a target of 2, 546 but has registered 2, 052 voters.

Kaloleni had a target of 1, 814 but it has so far registered 1, 401 voters, while Magarini registered 1, 409 voters out of a target of 2, 054.

Ganze constituency registered 1, 057 against a target of 1, 643 and Malindi with a target of 2616 registered only 687 voters.

According to Hussein, 95 percent of those registred are youth.

Kilifi deputy governor Gideon Saburi urged political leaders to assist the IEBC in reaching out to the citizens so that they can be registered as voters.

“IEBC alone cannot make this exercise a success. We need to support them so that even the people who are in the remote areas get a chance to register and exercise their right to vote. Kilifi is the largest county in the coast region but we have very few registered voters. Let all political leaders chip in to make sure we get more voters in the county,” said Saburi.

Kilifi north MP Owen Baya said there is a correlation between the number of registrerd voters and the amount of money sent to counties for development.

Baya called on the government to consider registering the stateless.

In the 2017 elections, Kilifi had 508,068 registered voters.

According to the 2019 populations and housing census, Kilifi had 1,453,787 people.