IEBC starts voter listing in East Africa and South Africa cities

Registration of Kenyan voters in East African cities and South Africa started yesterday and will run until March 20.

Logistics challenges, cash and time constraints ahead of the August 8 elections forced the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to restrict the diaspora voter listing.

IEBC chairman Wanyonyi Chebukati said inadequate staff and funds have derailed extension of the diaspora voter listing beyond the region.

“Considering logistics and constraints of time, the commission saw it prudent and tenable to start with these five countries,” he said, adding that Kenyans living in other countries will in future be registered as voters to vote for a presidential candidate back home.

Initially, the IEBC had targeted to register Kenyans in countries where Kenya has a diplomatic presence and a population of at least 3,000 eligible citizens registered with its embassies.

In the 2013 General Election, 2,637 Kenyans in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi cast their votes. This has since dropped to 2,542.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered progressive registration of Kenyans living abroad to participate in local elections. The directive followed a petition by lobby New Vision Kenya and others against IEBC.

The court ordered the commission to register Kenyan citizens in the diaspora and file periodic reports annually on such registration, for review by the National Assembly and the Senate.

The court further ordered that the commission puts in place an infrastructure for the comprehensive registration of Kenyan citizens in the diaspora as voters.