Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will carry out a mapping of all persons living with disabilities with a view to developing an appropriate communications strategy, Laikipia County Elections Manager Agnes Mutisya has said.
Mutisya said the move was informed by the fact that most of the information by the electoral body intended for the public did not reach some people living with disability due to the nature of their challenges.
Speaking in Nanyuki town after she launched the Annual Voter Education Week (AVEW) Monday, the county elections manager noted that persons with disability such as hearing or the visually impaired required to be communicated to in a way they understand fully.
“We want our messages to have a maximum audience reach including those persons with hearing challenges and the visually impaired,” she told those present at the launch held at Laikipia County Assembly hall.
Mutisya sought to demystify that that the electoral body is only operational during electioneering period by stating that IEBC was always fully operational.
“IEBC is operational throughout the year since we are always engaged in voter registration and education activities all the time. Right now we are reviewing and verifying signatures presented to us by the proponents of the Punguza Mzigo Initiative,” she said.
She called on area residents who may have not registered as voters to do so instead of waiting for the electioneering period to register, noting that it was a continuous process carried out in all IEBC offices across the country.
In a speech read by the County Elections Manager, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati, noted that the high cost of elections in the country can be reduced by early procurement of goods and services by the electoral body instead of rushing to do the same few months to the ballot.
By Martin Munyi
