Tricks counties use to have voters registered

With the General Election barely six months away, there is a frantic rush by counties to have potential voters registered.

And to ensure they get as many people as possible to register, some county administrations have resorted to having residents prove they are enlisted as voters before accessing services.

In Vihiga, for instance, a circular has sparked debate on whether it is legal to compel residents to register as voters before they can seek public services.

An internal memo from the Office of Public Service Administration to all departments directed staff to verify registration of every resident seeking services from them.

Acting Director of Public Service and Administration Wilberforce Agesa said residents were required to send their ID numbers to 22464 for verification before they are served.

"Only patients seeking medical attention will not be subject to the above," the letter said.

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Peter Indusa, a local, quesioned why residents must prove they are registered voters before going to county offices for any service.

"This is a joke. What if I am not interested with politics?" he posed.

However, Mr Agesa was quick to point out the letter did not reflect the official position of the county.

"It was clear that many people in Vihiga have not registered as voters. I then devised a strategy to arouse awareness on the ongoing voter registration," he explained.

"I can authoritatively inform you that it is actually working based on the reports I am getting from the field where the news trickled down," he added.

He further said the county cannot deny people services if they are not registered as voters.

"I cannot deny people water because they have not registered. I have actually served five people who are not registered voters. I used that opportunity to ask them to register. One of them called me and said he registered after leaving my office," he added.

And last week, while announcing the release of Sh25 million for bright but needy students, Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga said the bursaries would be used as a bait to force people to register as voters.

He instructed ward administrators in charge of the fund to make sure those applying for the cash to prove they were enlisted voters.

"When one applies for the bursary, we will use their ID number to check where they are registered as voters. We have realised that people who are not registered as voters here (in Vihiga) are benefiting illegally from our funds, leaving out those who are bona fide members," he said.

He said his administration wants to ensure those benefiting from his administration have registered.

In Central Kenya, bar owners who had confiscated IDs of customers as security for drinks taken on debt were ordered to return the documents.

Speaking in Kerugoya town, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said without identity cards many people would be denied the chance to exercise their democratic right to take part in the forthcoming General Election.

Bar owners in Murang'a were reportedly requiring patrons to show proof of registration before they could buy alcohol.

And at the Coast, Mombasa Woman Representative Mishi Mboko urged fellow women to use sex as a weapon to raise the number of registered voters.

She asked them to deny their spouses conjugal rights if they had not enlisted in readiness for the polls.

Ms Mboko explained that sex was a powerful weapon that could make reluctant men rush to registration centres.

Elsewhere, Tetu MP Ndungu Gethenji and his Mathira counterpart Peter Weru told locals they would provide vehicles to ferry the sick, the elderly and the vulnerable to voter registration centres.

The two visited various registration desks in their constituency as they announced measures to attract the masses to register as voters.