The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is targeting to register more than 60,000 new voters in Siaya County during the ongoing registration exercise, county election manager Ezekiel Juma has said.
The manager has called on local leaders and stakeholders to help his team achieve the target by mobilising all eligible persons to turn up at various registration centres for the vital registration.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting held at a hotel in Siaya town, Juma called for a multisectoral approach in the mobilisation process.
“As Siaya leaders, I am asking that we join hands to meet our target of registering 60,861 voters during the 30-day period of enhanced continuous voter registration,” he said, adding that they have managed to register 2,858 new voters during the last two days.
Siaya County Commissioner, Norbert Jara Komora, who led the county security team during the meeting, challenged local residents to rise to the occasion and turn up in large numbers to register.
Komora said it was foolhardy for any citizen to keep on crying for development and change but when given a chance to participate in electing leaders, they shy away, adding that the national government administration officers were ready to help IEBC achieve its target.
Siaya County Registrar of Persons, Dickson Osore, said more than 100,000 new identity cards have been issued to Siaya residents since the last mass voter registration exercise in 2022.
Osore said more than 11,000 identity cards were lying uncollected at various registration offices across the county and urged the applicants to collect them to enable them to register as voters.
By Philip Onyango
