The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission might not hit new voters targets in parts of Lamu that were recently marred by attacks as many have lost their ID cards.
Lamu county IEBC manager Mohamed Adan raised the concern saying the areas had recorded zero turnout since the exercise commenced this week.
Lamu was for the last two weeks under a spate of attacks by suspected al Shabaab militants.
Fifteen people were killed and over 10 houses torched in Juhudi, Ukumbi, Widho, Marafa, Mashogoni, Githurai, Mikinduni, Kibaoni, Kibokoni and Bobo-Sunkia, in Lamu West.
The incidents happened between January 2 and 9 this year.
Thousands fled their homes and were forces to put up in IDP camps while others left Lamu fearing for their lives.
Speaking on Wednesday, Adan said voter registration kits and other equipment has already been dispatched to all areas.
He said many residents in affected areas had either lost, misplaced or had their ID cards torched during the recent attacks making them unable to register.
“We understand most of them misplaced a lot of stuff when they were fleeing. Since we commenced the exercise, these areas have registered a zero turnout and its concerning,” Adan said.
He said areas like Juhudi, Holy Angels, Mikinduni, Kibaoni, Nyatha, Poromoko, Mavuno, Hindi and parts of Witu division have not registered a single voter since the exercise began.
There are also concerns of mass voter transfer in the region precipitated by the attacks that have seen hundreds move out to other parts of Lamu or outside the county.
The IEBC officials working in these areas are also accompanied by security officials.
The election official says the IEBC has had to push forward the voter registration exercise to January 30 and February 3 to allow those in IDP camps to pick up their lives in readiness for the exercise.
He said registration kits to these volatile areas will be dispatched on the aforementioned dates.
“We want to allow the displaced persons time to settle back to their villages and those who lost their IDs to try and locate them,” he said.
Other terror prone areas like Basuba, Milimani, Mangai, Mararani and Kiangwe in Boni forest and those close to the Lamu-Somalia border have equally witnessed a low turnout.
“By January 17, there was no new voter registered in Kiunga and Basuba wards. We hope things will get better as we proceed,” Adan said.
Only 5,000 new voters were registered during the first phase of the voter registration that ran from October 4 to November 2 last year out of a targeted 15,910.
In the current exercise, the IEBC is targeting to register 17,000 new voters in Lamu.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia said his office was working with IEBC and the National Registration Bureau to fast-track the replacement of lost or burnt IDs for residents in villages affected by recent attacks.
