We wish to congratulate the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) for the concerted efforts they have made to achieve their target of 10 million registered voters of which, according to media reports, they have managed some 8 million.
That said, we are concerned that these figures are very conservative as there are currently more eligible voters that ought to be afforded the chance to register but may be suffering under extraneous circumstances as would not allow them to get registered within the 5th May, 2010 deadline and who should not be locked out of exercising their civic duty in such a historical moment as the referendum on the draft constitution.
These eligible Kenyans include for instance:
a) young people, who are victims of government bureaucracy as they struggle to obtain an identity card either for the first time or to replace lost ones,
b) citizens either in police remand or in police cells for petty offenses or who are in the last few months of their jail term and are likely to be out in time to vote in the referendum and
c) Kenyans who are bed-ridden by illness or temporary disability whom by God’s grace will be able to join us at the referendum in this symbolic public engagement.
While the time period may have already been prescribed and is fast drawing to a close, in light of the foregoing legitimate reasons, the spirit of the registration exercise must override the letter of the law in order to achieve the larger good.
The constitution is a very fundamental law that intimately impacts each citizen’s life and therefore each eligible citizen should be afforded the opportunity to contribute to its posterity. This is especially since the civic education phase is likely to awaken more awareness of the fundamental importance of the voting right and there is no reason why the registration opportunity should not capture these new converts as well.
We therefore wish to appeal to and urge the government as follows:
1. That the period of voter registration be extended by a further period of at least 30 days so that more Kenyans can register to vote,
2. That the voter registration exercise should be extended to include the police cells, prisons and hospitals so that those currently locked out of the ecclesia have a chance of exercising their voting right in referendum,
3. That the issuance of national identity cards be sped up so that all Kenyans of above 18 years must have a chance at getting registered and at voting in the referendum;
4. That the waiting card/collection slips for national identity cards or appropriate police abstracts for lost identity documents be acceptable for registration purposes; and
5. That the centres or offices that process or issue national identification cards should likewise have a voter registration desk to facilitate easy accessibility and almost simultaneous registration.
In the meantime, we urge every Kenyan of 18 years and above to come out and register as a voter as you will not vote if you are not in the electoral register.
Signed for and on behalf of Bunge la Mwananchi,
George Nyongesa,
www.bungelamwananchi.org