Kenya's electoral body registers 1.43 mln new voters

Kenya's electoral commission said Tuesday it registered 1.43 million new voters in the just concluded month long exercise which ended on March 15.

The Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) said data from each county received at close of business indicates that Nairobi City County had the highest number of applications for registration of eligible voters.

"This was followed by Kiambu (central Kenya), Kisumu and Kakamega (Western Kenya) despite the fact that they did not meet their set targets," IEBC Chairman Issack Hassan said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The mass voter registration kicked off from Feb. 15 to March 15, targeting a minimum of at least four million new voters and if it meets the target of eight million, the number of registered voters will increase to 22.4 million.

The electoral body had hoped to register eight million new voters ahead of the August 8, 2017 general elections.

Hassan said the exercise was conducted at County Assembly Ward level using 5,776 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, operated by an equal number of Voter Registration Assistants.

"The Commission had set out to register four million voters in the 30-day drive but managed to achieve 34 percent of its target nationally. Only seven counties managed to get 50 percent and above of their set targets," Hassan said.

He said voter registration will be extended to Kenyan citizens residing outside Kenya in the next phase planned for early 2017. Endit