Let all eligible Kenyans register for 2017 polls

The National Registration Bureau has revealed that at least 9.2 million eligible voters are yet to be registered nearly 12 months to the next General Election.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has so far registered only 14.3 million voters out of 26.3 million Kenyans who have been issued with national identification cards, a prerequisite to registering as a voter.

In an atmosphere where millions of eligible voters risk being disenfranchised, the credibility of any election is bound to raise questions.

In the 2013 General Election, the presidential vote was won with the thinnest of margins. Some 6,173,433 votes were cast in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta while his closest challenger, Raila Odinga gannered 5,340,546 votes. The cliffhanger that followed could easily be avoided. Needless to say, the contest ended up in an election petition at the Supreme Court.

In the last voter registration exercise conducted between February 15 and March 15, the IEBC had targeted to register an additional four million voters. That target was not achieved for several reasons.

While voter apathy was largely blamed for the poor turnout, other factors like lack of ID cards was cited, yet this is now being negated by National Registration Bureau Statistics. Calls for an extension on the registration exercise could not be granted because IEBC said it was operating on a very lean budget.

IEBC had submitted a budget request of Sh45 billion, yet only Sh36 billion was allocated by the National Treasury for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 periods.

Small budget or no budget, clearly, IEBC must ensure that all possible measures are taken to register all eligible voters ahead of elections next year to ensure that the elections are deemed free and fair.

A large voting base in elections conducted on an even ground can drastically lessen the option of violence or petitions in determining the winner.