Nairobi: Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has urged residents of Tana River County to register for National Identity cards and enroll as voters ahead of the 2027 General Election.
According to Kenya News Agency, the call is part of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s plan to increase the number of citizens with identification documents and voter cards in Tana River and other regions, including Isiolo and Marsabit, through Rapid Respond Initiatives (RRI) led by various leaders. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, speaking during a separate event on Sunday, said the administration was targeting to mobilize at least five million voters from pastoralist counties to support President William Ruto’s re-election bid.
Speaking during a fundraising event in Wayu, Galole Constituency, Ruku said many Kenyans had failed to collect their processed identity cards from Huduma Centres and urged them to pick them up and register as voters. ‘I appeal to you that you make sure to register for National Identity cards in large numbers. In our Huduma Centres across the country, there are thousands of ID cards that have not been collected. If you register for an ID, make sure to go back and collect it once it is ready,’ Ruku said.
‘After collecting the IDs, I want you to also register as voters. We want as many people as possible to register as voters in Tana River so that we can support the President in the coming election,’ he added.
The CS also criticized the opposition and Democracy for Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua, accusing him of promoting tribal divisions and failing to deliver on his responsibilities while serving in government. Ruku said leaders from the central region remained part of the current administration and would continue working with other communities to support President Ruto’s government.
‘We know they failed to deliver for the people of Kenya. They were given huge responsibilities by the people of Kenya, but they failed. They failed to work with elected MPs and now they are full of arrogance and tribalism,’ Ruku said. ‘As the people of Mt. Kenya, we will stay in the government and we are not leaving. We will work with the people of Tana River, the people of the Coast, Rift Valley, the Northeastern region, and all other counties in unity to move the country forward under the leadership of William Ruto,’ he added.
The CS was accompanied by Tana River Women Representative Amina Dika and Taveta MP John Bwire, who led grassroots mobilization efforts in support of President Ruto’s second-term bid. Dika said she and other leaders from the region supported President Ruto’s re-election efforts and would not align themselves with Gachagua. ‘As for us, we are in full support of Ruto’s second-term election and want nothing to do with Gachagua,’ she said.
