Bar owners release withheld IDs for free to facilitate voter registration in Nyeri

Nyeri Sub-county Deputy Commissioner John Marete displays some of the 500 national Identification cards that had been withheld by a bar owner in Nyeri town for the past six months. [PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/Standard]

Bar owners have promised to release over 1,500 national identity cards withheld over debts owed by patrons.

Nyeri Bar Owners Association Secretary Kiama Gachanja said the move was aimed at ensuring the owners register as voters.

Speaking after a meeting at International Fund for Agriculture Development, Mr Gachanja said: "We told them (association members) it was illegal to confiscate ID cards, car log books or title deeds and risk going to jail because they are crucial documents."

Yesterday, Joseph Wachira, a bar owner, released over 500 IDs he had confiscated over a Sh700,000 debt owed to him by different patrons and traders.

He said the decision to pardon his debtors was informed by his personal will to ensure that the holders get a chance to participate in the forthcoming General Election.

"I have thought over the matter and vowed to place the interests of the nation before anything," he argued.

Nyeri Deputy County Assistant Commissioner John Marete, who received the documents, urged other traders to follow suit.

Theobald Wambugu, the association's chairman, said he was optimistic the move to hand over ID cards would give people an opportunity to register.

The association, he noted, had already requested the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to provide BVR kits near their business outlets.

"We are also putting up posters in our premises to sensitise patrons to exercise their constitutional right," Mr Wambugu stated.

Wambugu said on Thursday next week, members will roll out a door-to-door campaign to help IEBC register as many people as possible.

And Cabinet secretaries have defended their involvement in voter registration campaigns. Asked whether Cabinet secretaries were abdicating their duties, Lands CS Jacob Kaimenyi said it was the Government's responsibility to ensure people vote.

"It is really a concerted effort by all and the CS is not the only employee in a ministry that it would come to a standstill (if he/she is not there)," he said. He added: "We sometimes go abroad for two weeks and the ministry is still there."

His Devolution counterpart Mwangi Kiunjuri, whose resignation was rejected by the President, said they were taking advantage of the campaigns to assess the progress of various projects.

"The real work of ministers is out there in the field while office work is with the PS. What you are seeing us doing is relatively routine and there is nothing abnormal about it," he said.

Kiunjuri said he and his counterparts Joseph Nkaissery (Interior) and Willy Bett (Agriculture) were touring the country to assess the drought situation, adding that they were also utilising every available opportunity to urge Kenyans to register.

"The Government continues to work perfectly and anyone saying that there is a shutdown is only one who would want to politicise it," said Kiunjuri. In his tour of Mt Kenya region, Isiolo and Samburu counties, President Uhuru Kenyatta was accompanied by among others Kiunjuri and Kaimenyi. Roads and Infrastructure CS James Macharia, Nkaissery and Youth's Sicily Kariuki have also separately been involved in the campaigns.