•163 new Diaspora voters are enlisted so far
•During the last seven days, IEBC has received 34,928 requests for transfer and 345 applications for change of particulars.
Image: IEBC
IEBC has registered 229,843 new voters on the first week of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration.
This is a low turn out against the weekly target of 1,493,569.
During the last seven days, IEBC has received 34,928 requests for transfer and 345 applications for change of particulars.
The Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration exercise commenced on January 17 and will end on February 6 in all the 1,450 County Assembly Wards (CAWs), institutions of higher learning and Huduma centres countrywide.
The commission also commenced Diaspora voter registration January 21 at Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates.
Image: IEBC
According to IEBC, only 163 new Diaspora voters are enlisted so far with 184 requests for transfer and 136 applications for change of particulars
Voter registration in UK was launched today at Kenya High Commission in London. The delay was due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.
"United Kingdom joins United States of America (USA), Qatar, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan who commenced registration on January, 21, 2022," IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said.
"IEBC is yet to start Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) as earlier scheduled in United Arab Emirates (UAE - Abu Dhabi & Dubai) and Canada (Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver) due to the prevailing Covid-19 containment measures instituted in the two countries."
The Commission said it will advise on when the registration exercise shall be conducted in UAE and Canada once Covid-19 containment measures are eased.
This could be soon as Kenya today lifted its seven day suspension on Dubai bound passenger flights.
Meanwhile, Kenyans in diaspora have asked IEBC to extend the deadline for voter registration from 15 days to at least six weeks.
In a statement on Saturday, the Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) which consists of 46 Kenyan diaspora organizations around the globe faulted IEBC for giving 15 days to the Kenyans in diaspora to register as voters yet other citizens in Kenya have been given 3 weeks.
"This discrepancy in the time limits and denies the Kenyans in the diaspora a fair opportunity to register in their numbers," the KDA said.
The alliance also said that some of the diaspora quarters now listed for registration cover large areas spanning states, counties and continents. This means that the Kenyan who wishes to vote must travel over long distance and often expensively to register as a voter.