Kisumu: Voter registration centres in Kisumu County recorded overwhelming numbers of youthful applicants although thousands of others risk missing out on the exercise due to uncollected identification documents. Officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) reports that a large share of new applicants are first-time voters aged between 18 and 24, many of them students from universities and other colleges across the region.
According to Kenya News Agency, Kisumu County Registration Officer, Yegon Kibos, said enthusiasm among young people is high, but the pace of registration remains below target. In Kisumu Central Constituency, the Commission aims to register 14,845 voters, but only 4,792 have been enlisted so far, about 33 per cent completion, despite the exercise being well past its midpoint. Kibos emphasized that their systems are open to all Kenyan citizens from any part of the country, allowing them to register and choose their preferred polling station.
Although final demographic data is yet to be compiled, IEBC estimates that up to 80 per cent of those registered so far are youth, underlining their growing influence in shaping the country’s electoral landscape. However, documentation challenges threaten to undercut these gains. Kibos revealed that more than 32,000 National Identity Cards remain uncollected across Kisumu County, creating a major bottleneck for potential voters, especially young applicants who have already applied for IDs, but are yet to pick them up.
Local administrators, including chiefs and sub-chiefs, have intensified grassroots mobilization, urging residents to retrieve their documents. In some areas, services are being taken closer to communities through outreach drives and public gatherings to improve the turnout. To boost uptake before the deadline, the commission has deployed additional registration kits across the county, including mobile units stationed in various wards and extra desks at Huduma Centres. Standby kits have been positioned to respond to high-traffic areas.
Kibos expressed hope that the numbers will increase as the deadline nears, highlighting a three-fold approach that includes standby kits, voter educators, and sensitized partners like the Niko Kadi initiative and the National Government through county commissioners. Nationally, youth remain a decisive voting bloc, with citizens aged between 18 and 34 accounting for nearly 40 per cent of registered voters in the 2022 General Election.
