The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) has begun voter mobilization campaigns in Mosques as poor turn-out marred the second day of mass voters’ registration in Kirinyaga County.
SUPKEM Coast regional coordinator Mudhar Khitamy asked Imams from all over the region to mobilize Kenyans with national identity cards to register and participate in the August elections.
Khitamy who was backed by Muslim clerics from Kilifi and Mombasa counties noted this as the only way of electing the right people in office.
“We urge all clerics to conduct sensitization campaigns in our mosques to ensure the public gets to understand the need for registering as voters,” he said.
The imams also urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to learn from it’s challenges and rectify them so as to ensure that the coming polls are conducted in a free and fair manner to avoid plunging the country into chaos.
“We want IEBC to communicate where there are challenges so that they can get the necessary support earlier,” urged Khitamy.
In Kirinyaga, most voter registration clerks remained idle for most part of the day as people streamed in sluggishly.
Political leaders led by Gichugu MP Njogu Barua led in mass mobilization of the new votes across the county.
He expressed optimism that the county will achieve the 176,420 target as more elected leaders and aspirants are expected to join in the mobilization exercise.
The chiefs and their assistants are also delivering ID cards to their owners direct to their home and accompany them to register as a voter.
Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Kenya has called on Kenyans who have attained the age of 18 years to make sure that they have registered as voters ahead of the General election.
The party Secretary General Dr Jacob Hajji said it is upon Kenyans who have come of age to make sure that they actively participated in choosing leaders when the elections are called.
“We would like to urge Kenyans to come out in large numbers and exercise their democratic right by registering as voters,” he said in a statement after the party’s National Executive Council meeting.