At least 55,122 persons are projected to be registered in Kisumu County as the country rolls out a nationwide crash registration programme ahead of the 2022 general elections.
The exercise for both civil registration and Huduma Namba is aimed at aiding the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in voter registration.
Nyanza Regional Registration Officer, George Olela told KNA yesterday that even as they prepare to roll out the next phase of mass registration, a total of 20,566 Identification Cards (IDs) are still lying uncollected in Kisumu County.
Olela said Nyando Sub County has the highest number of uncollected ID cards at 2,175 while Seme sub-county has the lowest at 679 despite persistent sensitisation through chiefs and their assistants for the owners to pick them.
He expressed optimism that because of the crash programme, the projected number of registration could be surpassed as they have done in the past, considering the forthcoming general elections and the ever increasing number of young people seeking the documents.
“We are currently mobilising resources and collecting the requisite materials from the headquarters (Nairobi) and we are set to meet all the seven sub-counties teams to brief them on what is expected of them,” Olela said.
He revealed that the exercise will be quite involving as both the civil registration and that of Huduma namba will be running concurrently.
The Regional Registration boss disclosed that at the start of October this year, the high powered team will be moving closer to the people in the sub-locations where respective chiefs and their assistants are expected to help facilitate the exercise.
However, he added, challenges of transportation was being addressed with the help of the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) while staffing problem will be sorted by the ongoing recruitment of clerks, subordinate staffs, administrators and drivers.
“The government has also employed senior registration officers in Nairobi with two of them distributed to each of the eight regions. Kisumu like all the 47 counties have each received two of the new registration officers,” he said.
By Joseph Ouma
