For the second time, the electoral commission has failed to fulfil its voter registration goal, with only 12 per cent of the 4.5 million people need to be registered.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has blamed drought devastating sections of the country, as well as insecure regions, for the county’s poor voter registration turnout.
Drought has harmed harvests, putting an estimated 2.5 million Kenyans at risk of hunger.
Despite the fact that populations mainly rely on agriculture as a source of livelihood, people living in 13 counties across the arid north, north-eastern, and coastal areas of the country will be in “immediate need” of food aid after they received low rainfall.
Lamu, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Kilifi, and Taita Taveta are the counties.
Terrorist strikes in Lamu have forced thousands of people to flee their homes and seek refuge in Internally displaced person (IDP)camps, while others have fled the city scared for their lives.
For security considerations, the process of obtaining IDs in these locations has been made exceedingly long and difficult, since applicants must go through extensive scrutiny and clearance, with a large percentage of applicants being rejected credentials for the flimsiest of grounds.
According to records at the Lamu County Youth Assembly Office, at least 700 young people have registered for IDs but have not yet received them while hundreds of other adults do not have the document.
The effort, which began in January, has been impeded by insecurity in the Kerio Valley, sections of Baringo, Samburu, Laikipia, Marsabit, Wajir, and Lamu.
From cattle raids to highway bandits, Samburu is dealing with an unprecedented series of overlapping insecurity concerns.
In Samburu County, the IEBC aimed to register 22000 new eligible voters, but only roughly 5000 were registered.