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{
    "id": 336248,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/336248/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 119,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "(1) Members observed that since each registration centre is not provided with a BVR equipment, it follows that Kenyans are denied the opportunity to utilize the 30 days to register as voters. (2) The equipment is moved from one centre to another in some constituencies. (3) The distance between registration centres in a ward could be as far as 10 to 20 kilometers. Hon. Members wanted to know how the Commission is addressing this challenge. Having consulted the IEBC, I wish to respond that the Commission has addressed these issues. It has deployed additional Kshs1,500 equipment meant for the registration of the diaspora voters to the constituencies with such challenges. The second issue raised by Members was that the BVR equipment is configured such that Kenyans can only register in wards. All Kenyans, therefore, have to travel to their respective wards to register as voters. It is not possible for, say, students in colleges or other Kenyans in towns to register as voters wherever they are. Hon. Members also wanted to know whether it is possible to reconfigure the equipment to enable all Kenyans to register wherever they are and proceed to vote in their respective wards. Having consulted the IEBC on this issue, which I said was a very serious challenge last time, it would appear that Kenyans in areas far from their wards will be denied a chance to register. The challenge we have here is that the equipment is configured to register voters in wards to restrict importation of voters. It is, therefore, not possible to reconfigure the equipment at this stage. The third item raised by hon. Members here was that some registration centres also lost the first two to three days when the equipment was being installed. Some equipment were sometimes not functional for some days. In both cases, Kenyans in these centres lose their right to register. After consulting with the IEBC, the only available remedy in that case is to extend the period for voter registration. It will not, at this point in time, be possible to extend it to 30 days for two reasons. After registration of voters, we need two weeks to compile the register and subsequently, thereafter, we need another two weeks again for Kenyans to inspect the register and be ready to participate in the elections. Due to those two reasons, it will not be possible to extend the timeframe of the exercise of registration. A piece of information I was given by the IEBC is that there is low turnout of Kenyans in some centres to register. It is only in urban centres like Nairobi, Mombasa, Thika, Nakuru and Kisumu where we have, at least, 100 members registering per equipment per day. However, the report we have from the rural areas is that the response is quite low. My appeal to Kenyans and even us, as Members of this House because we are leaders in this country, is that we should appeal to Kenyans to come out and register as voters. This is because there is fear that sometimes we wait until the last minute and then we rush to register."
}