Religious leaders have been challenged to take a leading role in mobilising Kenyans to register as voters as the country prepares for the 2027 General Election.
National Assembly Speaker RT Hon (Dr.) Moses Wetang’ula said the clergy by virtue of their influence and close engagement with communities are well placed to support the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise being undertaken by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
He noted that their involvement could help the Commission achieve its initial target of registering 2.5 million new voters.
“The church wields immense influence among the people. Clergy should leverage this position to ensure the IEBC not only meets but surpasses its registration targets,” said Speaker Wetang’ula.
He commended the IEBC for decentralising the exercise through the deployment of temporary registration clerks to grassroots areas saying the approach had brought services closer to wananchi.
The Speaker added that the outreach could be further strengthened through structured mobilisation within churches and other places of worship.
At the same time, Mr. Wetang’ula expressed concern that many eligible young people risk being locked out of the electoral process due to lack of national identity cards.
He urged religious leaders to encourage youth to acquire the document noting that it is issued free of charge.
“Clergy can even take stock of youths without IDs and guide them on where and how to obtain them so they can register as voters,” he said.
IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon said during the launch of the ECVR exercise on March 30 that the Commission targets to register 6.3 million new voters which would raise the national voter roll to 28.5 million ahead of the 2027 polls.
He added that the recruitment of temporary clerks is aimed at enhancing outreach particularly in marginalised and hard-to-reach areas.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said about 11 million Kenyans who already hold national identity cards are yet to register as voters.
At the same time, the government is targeting to issue three million new IDs in an ongoing mass registration drive.
Dr. Kipsang said processing time for IDs has been reduced to between three and seven days with applicants in Nairobi now able to receive the document on the same day due to improved technological capacity.
He also revealed that 42,000 uncollected IDs are lying at various registration offices across the country.
Separately, Mr. Wetang’ula disclosed that Sh400 million has been allocated in the supplementary budget to clear long-standing salary arrears owed to workers at Nzoia Sugar Company.
He said the move follows a directive by President William Ruto and is intended to address concerns by employees who felt sidelined after the government cleared pending payments to farmers.
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka said the region had benefited from the government’s development agenda and urged residents to support President Ruto’s re-election bid.
Webuye East MP Hon. Martin Pepela praised the Speaker for leveraging his position to advance development in the area and called on the clergy to support his future political ambitions.
