Why Embu youths fear listing as voters

Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki. (Photo: Joseph Muchiri/Standard)

Many youths in Embu are not registering as voters for fear of arrests, a Cabinet secretary has revealed.

Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki attributed this to propaganda being spread through social media that biometric voter registration kits would enable law enforcers to net people who engage in crime.

"The propaganda is all over the county and is meant to instil fear among youths so that they do not register as voters. The authors' aim clearly is to ensure this region lags behind in voter registration," she said.

She instructed Embu County commissioner Esther Maina to commence investigations into the propaganda and bring to book the people behind it.

Ms Kariuki said they expect such rumours to be on the increase ahead of August elections. She assured youths that the mass voter registration was just a step towards them exercising their democratic right and was not in any way linked to one's previous record.

Kariuki spoke at Kangaru market in Embu County Wednesday where she and MPs John Muchiri (Manyatta) and Cecily Mbarire (Runyenjes) mobilised youths to register.