Nairobi News

NewsWhat's Hot

Where you might not get a drink without voter’s card

By NATION TEAM January 13th, 2017 2 min read

Political leaders have devised clever ways to push Kenyans to register in preparation for the next elections.

In Murang’a,  residents who do not have a voter’s card will not be allowed to enjoy their favourite alcoholic drinks in the county from next week, bar and hotel owners have said.

James Waweru, the chairman of the business owners’ association, said the members wants to be active participants in the voter registration process slated to begin this month.

Mr Waweru said they will be demanding to see a voter’s card from anybody entering their premises, adding that no one will be allowed to drink without showing they are registered voters.

“Just like you cannot drive without a driving licence, then you cannot drink without a voter’s card, hakuna starehe bila kura (no entertainment without a voter’s card),” he said.

ELIGIBLE VOTERS

Speaking in Murang’a town, Mr Waweru called upon other business owners such as matatu and boda boda operators to follow suit so that all eligible voters are registered.

He said they will fund the initiative themselves and that they had already ordered over one million posters to be displayed at strategic places in their premises, urging locals to register as voters from January 15.

“In all our premises in the eight sub-counties, over 2,000 members have agreed to partner free of charge as we support the voter registration process for the 2017 General Election,” he said.

At the same time, the Coast Parliamentary Group now wants voter registration to be done at funerals, weddings and palm wine drinking locations.

Speaking in Kilifi on Thursday, the group’s chairman Gunga Mwinga said this would help the commission to net more eligible voters ahead of the August polls.

TARGETED FIGURE

He said the registration had to go to where many people gather.

The Kaloleni MP said Kilifi County alone, where the targeted figure is 482,000 voters, had more than 127,000 unregistered people.

“If they can register all the 127,000, the figure will increase from about 356,000 registered voters today to about 482,000,” he said.

This second round of voter registration will be the commission’s last one before the General Election. The exercise, which starts on January 16, targets about six million new voters countrywide.

According to the poll team’s CEO Ezra Chiloba, the listing targets between four and six million new voters.

Reporting by Derrick Luvega, Daniel Nyassy and Martin Mwaura