Earlier this week, I have heard the stories of two middle-aged, working class women living in Nairobi who have registered as voters for the first time. They are older than me but they have never voted. For the life of me, I could not understand how anyone could have stayed away from all the political drama, especially in the last three elections.
That aside, their reasons for registering as voters are quite interesting. One has registered out of her own accord because her ‘own’ candidate now has a reasonable chance of winning the election. The other registered due to pressure from her husband who is keen to ensure that ‘their’ candidate wins. ‘Own’ and ‘their’ here, as you’ve probably guessed, represents ethnic groups.