Chaos in Kariobangi over voter registration as youth groups clash

Chaos in Kariobangi over voter registration as youth groups clash

Chaos erupted in Nairobi’s Kariobangi area Monday morning after two youth groups clashed over the mass voter registration exercise.

The two groups are said to have clashed over the positioning of voter registration centres and identity of locals seeking to be registered as voters.

One group demanded that they be allocated a designated voting centre, different from the other group momentarily paralysing the registration exercise.

They further claimed that there were people who had been ‘imported’ from other areas to register in Kariongangi as voters thus being in a position to influence the election of leaders in key county positions in 2017.

The unrest seems to signify the gravity of the politics surrounding Nairobi Governor’s seat which has attracted a host of contenders including Nairobi Senator Mike ‘Mbuvi’ Sonko, former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and the incumbent Dr. Evans Kidero.

Deputy President William Ruto, during a service at Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Dandora, Nairobi, in February, had claimed that Jubilee Party will ensure it clinches the Nairobi Gubernatorial seat as the county is the hub of the national government, sentiments that elicited sharp criticism from Governor Kidero who claimed that “Nairobi has its owners”.

Ruto had stated: “This time round we will ensure Nairobi County has a Jubilee Governor. It is not possible for the national government to be headed by Jubilee while the leading county is headed by a Governor from a different coalition.”

CORD has come out to express its reservations over the manner in which the voter registration exercise is being conducted accusing the government of deliberately starving IEBC of resources and forcing it to register low outcomes.

CORD deputy chair and Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has in several instances intimated that the government is frustrating the process of issuance of ID cards, especially in CORD strongholds, to restrict the number of people registering as voters.

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CORD IEBC Kariobangi

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