IEBC CEO Sunkuli raises concerns on low voter registration in Siaya and Homa Bay

With only a few days remaining for the enhanced voter registration exercise, IEBC Acting CEO Moses Ledama Sunkuli observed that Siaya and neighbouring Homa Bay County are lagging behind in the voter registration process as national registration figures surpass 1.3 million.

“We are at 47%, and we have agreed that we want to push this to as high as 70% at least, that is on the minimum. I was also in Homa Bay, and the same story is also replicating there. We need to really push that,” said the IEBC CEO. 

Sunkuli, who met IEBC staff and regional government leadership on Tuesday, emphasized that the commission cannot hit its targets in isolation and called for concerted efforts between the IEBC and local political leaders to mobilize the populace.

He noted that the commission has doubled its efforts, deploying clerks, ICT officers, and voter registration assistants to every ward to ensure the process is as accessible as possible, yet the county continues to underperform.

“We are just re-looking at where we stand right now as Siaya, and we are not doing very well as a county in terms of voter registration, new registration data. We have sat today and agreed to re-strategize on how we are going to approach the last few days that are remaining,” he said. 

Uncollected National Identity Cards sitting in registration centers were identified as a major challenge to the voter registration process. 

According to Sunkuli, many of these IDs belong to residents currently working in urban centers like Nairobi, and he urged these individuals to find time to collect their documents and register before the window closes.

The IEBC CEO expressed optimism that the commission can reach a minimum target of 70%, and potentially as high as 90% if all stakeholders cooperate.

The CEO also clarified that the exercise includes voter transfers, reminding the public that such actions must be done in person due to the mandatory use of biometric technology.