Residents of Isiolo County have been urged to turn out in large numbers and register as voters during the ongoing nationwide exercise.
Isiolo County Commissioner David Kiprop called on residents to take advantage of the month-long registration period to prepare for the General Election scheduled for August next year.
Mr. Kiprop expressed concern over the high number of uncollected national identification cards, noting that many applicants had yet to pick up their document despite the government reducing processing time to less than a month.
Kiprop urged residents to collect their IDs to access essential government services that require proper identification and also register as voters.
He further revealed that the Registrar of Persons in the County had launched a two-week outreach exercise to enable residents without identification cards to apply for them free of charge.
The County Elections Manager, Wario Ibrahim, said that 4,054 voters had been registered within the first eight days of the exercise and called for increased participation.
The county was targeting to register 25,523 voters, with Isiolo South Constituency aiming for 6,523 and Isiolo North 19,198 voters. Mr. Ibrahim noted that only 126 voter transfers had been recorded so far.
He added that 44 KIEMS registration kits had been deployed across the county, with 14 in Isiolo South and 30 in Isiolo North. He cited low youth turnout, the vastness of the county, and limited stakeholder engagement as key challenges affecting the registration process.
Mr. Ibrahim urged political leaders and other stakeholders to actively support the voter registration drive to boost numbers.
Meanwhile, a resident, Omar Godana, called on National Government Administration Officers to help distribute uncollected identification cards and raise awareness among young people on the importance of early registration to avoid last-minute rush or missing out on the exercise.
By David Nduro
