TukoKadi is a force to reckon with; movement leads Ademba and Sophie say

TukoKadi, a citizen-led mass voter registration across Kenya, was started by Ademba with the intention of having many citizens turn up for registration at centres put in place by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). 

“It is a force to reckon with. TukoKadi is here to make change. Today, tomorrow, 2027 and forever,” Ademba said on Citizen TV’s Sunday Live. 

Also on the panel was Youth Leader Sophie Njehia, who termed the initiative as the solution to problems that continue to face Kenyans. 

“TukoKadi is a representation of the Gen Z movement … a collective of people with progressive ideas about our nation. Patriotic Kenyans…people who believe that Kenyans can live with dignity, they can have good sanitation,” 

According to Sophie, street protests have not been productive for young people as many have died due to use of force by police officers. 

“We decided that we are going to pursue the constitutional way which is getting Ruto out in the ballot. Not only Ruto, it is him and every single MP who has let the people of Kenya down. It is the system that we are uprooting, we are doing a complete system overhaul,” said Sophie. 

She believes that the people’s power is in the ballot. 

Ademba also said that he began the movement to demystify beliefs that young people do not vote. 

The journalist says he began the voter registration calls after a friend asked him to accompany them to the registration centre. 

“TukoKadi has become powerful to the level that even government officials are jumping on it,” he said. 

He regretted that the political class, including President William Ruto and opposition leaders have since used the slogan. 

“It is a force to reckon with. The President yesterday said ‘ako kadi’. We see the likes of Fred Matiang’i, Rigathi Gachagua…coming in to say ‘TukoKadi’. TukoKadi is a citizen led initiative to get these people out of office, why are they jumping on it,” he said.