The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) expects to register over 100,000 new voters in Homa Bay during the month-long mass registration exercise that kicked off on Monday.
Speaking to KNA, Homa Bay County Returning Officer, Michael Kosgei said over 200 clerks and supervisors who would oversee the implementation of the exercise in all the 40 wards within the eight sub-counties in the region have been trained.
“We are prepared for the exercise. Our registration clerks and supervisors have already been trained on how to properly handle Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits that will be issued to every ward,” he said.
Kosgei added that the county had been issued with a total of 128 BVR kits to be distributed in threes to all the 40 wards in Homa Bay County.
He noted that the county has 476,932 registered voters who participated in the 2017 general elections.
On the other hand, youths from various Sub-Counties in Homa Bay also expressed their readiness to assist in the mobilization of residents who do not have Identification Cards (IDs) to come out in large numbers and apply for IDs in order to register as voters.
Led by Robert Ouko from Homa Bay town, the youth called on the area chiefs and relevant authorities to utilize government-issued motorcycles to assist in the distribution of the uncollected IDs to their owners who until now have failed to collect them.
“Our people have been unable to collect their IDs mostly because of how far they reside from the registration offices. It is for this reason that we call on chiefs to assist in this capacity so that the residents can register as voters during this period,” said Ouko.
In Mbita Sub County, Morris Onyango, who spoke on behalf of youths called on parents with children who sat their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), and have attained the age of 18 years to encourage them to participate in the registration exercise.
He further encouraged County IEBC officials to make an effort to reach fishermen from the various beaches in Mbita who were known for overlooking such exercises.
The youths also called on the local leaders to exercise peaceful campaigns and refrain from using the young people to cause violence in the region before or after the upcoming 2022 general elections.
By Omar Zabbibah and Sitna Omar
