Low turn out in Garissa as second phase of voter listing begins

Garissa had low turn out on day one of the second phase of the enhanced continuous voter registration exercise.

Many of the registration centres did not have queues and registration clerks sat idle.

Last week, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced the commencement of the second phase of the voter listing.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the exercise will begin on January 17 and end on February 6. He said it will be the second and final phase in preparation for the general election.

Garissa Township coordinator Ali Noor said they target at least 9,000 new voters in the constituency.

He urged the youths who recently acquired identification cards to come out in large numbers and register to vote.

During the last voter registration, the number of those who registered in the pastoral communities was below target.

Some of the reasons cited for voter apathy were lack of ID cards, lack of civic education and drought.

Noor, however, remains optimistic that this time round they will meet their targets.

He said it has rained therefore getting pastoralists will be easy since they have retuned home.

“The responsibility of passing the voter listing information to our people lies with the commission. We are however requesting our political leaders to use their positions to create awareness for the message to reach all,” Noor said.

He said religious leaders should also use the churches and mosques to pass the messages.

"FM stations are a good medium to relay information to those in remote villages. Once again we don’t want to leave any eligible voter out, let us all seize the opportunity and register,” Noor said.

Last weekend, Garissa Township MP Aden Duale made a clarion call to residents of pastoralist counties to use the second window of voter registration to enlist.

Speaking at a function in Garissa town, Duale said all eligible voters should show up at registration centres and have their details captured so that they can participate in the August general election.

According Duale, the region has numbers that can greatly influence the outcome of an election.

The MP urged residents to prove to the world that they have the numbers.

In the last voter registration, Garissa Township constituency led with 6,225 new voters.

Daadab had 4,706, Balambala (4,573), Fafi (2,820), Lagdera (2,448) and Ijara(1,988).

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)