The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has launched an enhanced voter registration exercise in Mombasa County, targeting an additional 183,000 new voters across six constituencies ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at the launch held at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa, IEBC Chairperson Erastus Edung said the initiative was designed to bring registration services closer to the people and fast-track the process over a 30-day period.
“This engagement, and particularly the commitment of IEBC, with the support of all the leaders and the citizens of the Republic, demonstrates our commitment to our constitutional obligation and duty to ensure that we foster and strengthen citizen participation in our electoral processes,” said Edung.
He said the commission was targeting young people, women, persons with disabilities, and marginalised minority communities, calling on all eligible Kenyans to come forward in large numbers and exercise their democratic rights under Article 38 of the Constitution.
Edung noted that the coastal region was deliberately chosen as the starting point for the enhanced registration exercise, given its significant population of marginalised minority groups.
He said that on Monday, the commission had successfully registered a large number of such communities, some of whom will be voting for the first time.
“We chose deliberately to come to the coastal region beginning with Kwale, where we started this exercise. We are pleased to report that on Monday, we managed to register a large number of our marginalised minority communities, some of whom were being registered as voters for the first time,” Edung said.
He urged civil society organisations to come forward and support the exercise with available resources, describing voter registration as an expensive undertaking that required collaboration and partnership across all stakeholders.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sharrif Nassir warned that failure to register as a voter was tantamount to surrendering one’s voice to others.
” Without your vote, you have given another your voice to go and say whatever they want. Your voter’s card is your voice. If you don’t take your voter’s card, you have decided to gamble with your future,” the governor said.
The governor also called for collaboration from Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers, asking them to encourage parents of children under their care to register as voters before the 2027 polls.
Mombasa County Commissioner Mohammed Noor, who was accompanied by officers from the Civil Registration Department and the National Registration Bureau (NRB), revealed that 34,317 people had been registered for national identification cards against a target of 48,840 for the current financial year 2025/2026.
He said approximately 23,063 ID cards remained uncollected and that chiefs and assistant chiefs had been tasked with locating the owners so they could receive their documents.
He also announced plans to deploy a live capture machine from Nairobi that would reduce the ID issuance process to between two and three days.
The county commissioner also assured residents of security before, during, and after the elections, while calling on citizens to take advantage of the ongoing registration exercise.
Mombasa County Elections Manager Dr Swalha Yusuf called for collaboration from both state and non-state actors to ensure the success of the registration drive.
“We rely on the National Registration Bureau to fast-track IDs for the purpose of registration of our citizens as voters. We also rely on civil society to bridge the trust gap through robust voter education. We all have a role to play,” said Dr Yusuf.
She said Mombasa County had recorded progress, with 4000 new voters registered in the first two days, but acknowledged there was still significant ground to cover.
“In Mombasa we have seen progress, but we have a mountain to climb,” she said, adding that the county aimed to reach a total of 825,000 registered voters by 2027.
The six constituencies targeted in the drive are Mvita, Nyali, Changamwe, Likoni, Jomvu, and Kisauni.
By Sitati Reagan and Ramadhan Nassib
