The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that mass voter registration will commence on October 4, 2021.
The exercise that will run for 30 days is targeting a total of 6-7 million voters according to IEBC.
This was revealed on Wednesday during a forum with members of Faith-Based Organizations at a Nairobi hotel.
IEBC also said that registration of voters in the diaspora will be conducted in December this year.
Six more countries will be included in IEBC’s diaspora list. They include; South Sudan, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said that the countries meet the minimum requirement of 3,000 voters.
Kenyans in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa participated in the 2017 General election.
The commission also maintained that the 2022 general elections will be held on August 9 even though there are calls to have the elections postponed due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
Chebukati accused politicians of interfering with IEBC’s affairs hence inciting Kenyans against the commissioners.
“The interference exposes [IEBC] commissioners to ethnic profiling, consequently making them insecure and susceptible to attacks,” he said.
He asked the National Treasury to allocate the Commission enough funds ahead of the 2022 elections
“Over the years, the Commission’s funding has not been adequate and in tandem with the electoral cycle. For instance, this year, we asked for Kshs40.9 billion to conduct the 2022 General Election, but got Sh26 billion,” he said.
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