President William Ruto’s former senior economic advisor, Moses Kuria/ FILE
Former Presidential advisor Moses Kuria has raised concerns over the low turnout of young Kenyans in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
In a statement on Friday, Kuria noted that despite being vocal on social and political issues, many members of Generation Z were not translating their activism into voter registration.
“Gen Z are not registering as voters. From leaderless, partyless, formless to voteless. Nice!” Kuria remarked.
His remarks come at a time when the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is grappling with poor numbers in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise launched on September 29, 2025.
Early data and field reports indicate that clerks stationed at registration centres have spent long hours idle as only a handful of new voters turned up.
A spot check by The Star over the past three days confirmed the low activity, raising fears that the electoral agency may fall short of its ambitious targets.
The IEBC has set a goal of enrolling 6.3 million new voters before the 2027 general election, with the majority expected to come from the youth bracket—particularly Gen Z.
At least 10 per cent of this figure is expected to be captured during the ongoing registration phase.
Despite the slow start, the commission remains optimistic.
Officials say intensified civic education and targeted outreach campaigns will improve turnout as the exercise continues.
“This CVR exercise will take place in all 290 constituencies and is supported by 57 Huduma Centres for accessibility,” IEBC stated earlier.
The exercise also accommodates transfers and corrections through constituency offices.
The agency has laid out a phased strategy to grow the voter register to 28.5 million by 2027.
The plan includes three main stages: the current CVR (10 per cent of the target), a first Enhanced CVR (40 per cent) to be conducted after the November 27, 2025, by-elections, and a second Enhanced CVR (50 per cent) slated for the next financial year.
To qualify, applicants must be Kenyan citizens with a valid national ID or passport, not already registered, not convicted of an election offence in the last five years, and not declared of unsound mind.
Questions have now been raised that online activism is not translating into political participation through formal channels like voting.
In the last several months, Gen Z has spearheaded demonstrations and digital campaigns seeking policy reforms.
However, the same energy appears absent in the critical process of voter registration. With the process still ongoing, time till tell..
