The Coast region is hoping to enlist over , new voters to raise its stakes to 2. It has some of the poorest and least educated populations — in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu and Taita Taveta counties — despite its recognition as a top tourism destination and gateway to the Kenyan economy through the Mombasa port.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has been urging residents to raise their political bargaining chip. On the other hand, the Ukambani region comprising Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties has consistently voted with Musyoka, a former vice president and leader of the Wiper Democratic Movement. It could raise its voting numbers to over two million should more than , new voters enlist.
For the North Eastern region that encompasses Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties , new voters would raise its voting population to , In the presidential election, Kenyatta garnered 8.
Kenyatta had secured 35 counties with more than quarter of their vote, while Raila secured However, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified that election forcing a repeat poll in October that year. For the IEBC though, theirs is a statutory assignment: to ensure every eligible Kenyan is given an opportunity to decide at the ballot.
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Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Argument An expert's point of view on a current event. By Carey Baraka. People walk past graffiti calling for peace on their way to a nearby polling station in Nairobi's Kibra slum during by-elections for a parliamentary representative on Nov.
Sign up for Africa Brief From Algeria to Zimbabwe and countries in between, a weekly roundup of essential news and analysis from Africa. September 2, , PM. Tags: Africa , Elections , Kenya , Politics. Argument Carey Baraka. Dispatch Neha Wadekar. Trending 1. A Blueprint for Peace in Ethiopia. Fiona Hill: U. The ruling Jubilee Party is also being pulled in different directions, with many members openly supporting candidates from other parties.
This situation, along with many other factors, puts the country in a fragile situation. While democratic elections are usually promising, Kenya has developed a firmly established pattern of electoral violence since the rebirth of pluralist democratic politics OHCHR, Despite once being seen as a beacon of peace in Africa, during the , , , and general elections the country experienced violence that killed many people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
While conflict triggers are multi-dimensional and include historical, structural, institutional, legal, and cultural factors, they have always reflected tensions between ethnic identities. This is because the foundation of pluralistic democratic politics in the country was anchored on political party structures that originally segmented the country along ethnic lines.
For instance, the aftermath of the December contest led to months of heavy ethnopolitical violence that is estimated to have killed 1, people and forced more than , others to flee their homes BBC, This violence primarily impacted multiethnic, low-income areas in Nairobi, Naivasha, Kisumu, and Mombasa.
Business leaders report huge losses and many predict that Kenya will be unable to meet projected growth targets. The subsequent general election in was relatively peaceful but ethnopolitical tensions continued to build up in most parts of the country, with Tana River County experiencing a series of massacres in late and early that killed over people, wounded many more, and displaced tens of thousands HRW, DW reached out to the IEBC for comment on the low voter registration but it has yet to receive a response.
Some see the low voter registration as a sign young people have lost faith in the electoral system. During a recent Nairobi debate hosted by DW's online magazine "The 77 Percent," several young people said the current state of politics had turned them off registering. There is no need for me to go stand in line and register myself as a voter then vote for a person who won't be elected because the leader has already been predetermined," said Wesley Mokoa during the 77 Percent street debate.
The year-old digital media student added that he saw no point in voting for a leader who will disappear for five years and come back at election time and tell him: "You know what, I am back again. Kenya's electoral commission initially set a target of recruiting some six-to-seven million new voters before lowering its goal to 4.
But even that figure won't be met because "young people don't see the motivation," said Nairobi-based political analyst Martin Oloo. For that reason, they [the youth] aren't very enthusiastic. Most of them have no jobs and no hopes, so they're not swayed by the political players," Oloo told DW. One of Kenya's leading newspapers, The Standard, reported last week that some young people were even demanding cash handouts before registering as new voters.
Student Wesley Mokoa said he had seen some leaders trying to use bribes to woo young voters on social media. We are tired of the [electoral] commission, we are tired of everything," a frustrated Mokoa said, pointing to the failure of his country's political class to solve the problem of youth employment.
But not registering to vote is like shooting yourself in the foot, says Paul Matheka, a civil society activist. Other big frustration among Kenyans, however, is that they see their lawmakers as doing little for their pay, which is among the highest in the world for politicians. When allowances and other perks are added, that amount almost doubles.
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