Moses Kuria offers cash for voter listing, but IEBC is having none of it
Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria on Wednesday announced a cash incentive to promote voter registartion in his constituency.
Under the terms of the incentive, the MP will pay Sh50 to each boda boda operator who ferries a potential voter people to registration centres in the constituency.
Further, newly registered voters will be given a Sh50 ‘dehydration allowance’ as compensation for withstanding the hot weather.
The cash incentive will run during the current dry spell.
According Mr Kuria, two factors hindering the ongoing voter registration are the current hot weather and the long distances potential voters have to walk in search of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits.
However, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) immediately dismissed Mr Kuria’s cash incentive as illegal and unconstitutional.
IEBC communications officer Andrew Limo said voting is voluntary in Kenya and politicians should not intimidate the public with their offers.
“We ask politicians to desist from making these outrageous declarations and allow citizens enjoy the freedom of deciding for themselves.
“We appreciate their efforts in putting the message across on the importance of having a voter’s card, but this does not mean that they in turn use it for their own selfish gains,” Mr Limo told Nairobi News.
Mr Limo said the only message politicians should put across is for the public to exercise their democratic right. He said the incentives amount to politicians interfering with a person’s right to either vote or not to vote.
Netizens were also not happy with Mr Kuria’s cash incentive.
