Voting is an exercise enshrined in Chapter Seven of the Constitution, and every citizen who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years and above; of sound mind and has not been convicted of an election offence preceding five years to the election, is entitled and is encouraged to register as a voter. The registration and acquiring of the Voter’s Card, gives way for the citizen to fully exercise his/her rights to elect a prospective leader or recall an elected member. More so, activities such as the Referendums, are some of the activities that a citizen participates to give views and determine the direction his/her nation can undertake.
Voter Registration exercise is always undertaken as constituted in Law by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) within the electioneering year. The exercise has though been facing challenges in the recent past and we cannot blame the voters nor the Commission. Walk with me. It has been noted that in each electioneering cycle the nation goes through violence, and these has made many voters (young and old) to be disinterested in exercising their rights to vote. Talking of the young; it’s important to mention their plight. Many are eager and seek to be contributors to the Nation building as well as their own but are kept to wait by lack of employment and/or absorption into the industries in their respective career professions. These great disappointments; having academic certificates, a big vision, and enormous energies to work, deflated their passion and love their country due to lack of opportunities to explore. The youth are a resilient people, though bogged with disappointments roundabout them, they still look for other opportunities through their innovative and entrepreneurial skills.
At these point, again they meet different level of hurdles for their startups; frustrations from Government officers, hostile business environment, their very own personal limitations among many others. They still don’t give up that easily. And this is the aim of these article, the youth have been promised the skies but nothing has been delivered. The policy makers forget all about them the soonest they get into office. At many a times, the youth feel “insanity is doing the same things every electioneering cycle expecting a different outcome.” Thus, giving up on their rights to exercise powers given them by the 2010 Constitutional dispensation.
My opinion (to which I’m entitled to), is that the IEBC has done a commendable job to reach out to a people who are these far frustrated and dejected beyond measure and accrue the numbers that they’ve so far. A Kenyan youth deserves more, and they cannot allow these frustrations to deter them from exercising their civic duties to their Nation and to themselves; but in the meantime, they need to be just as resilient as they’ve been. To come out in large numbers, make their opinions and wishes known not just to be heard. Be the front runners in demanding for what they deserve and stamping their decisions on these very upcoming 2022 General Elections.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) as a whole and especially its Nakuru CBD Campus are taking part in these venture in collaboration with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to mobilize the youth to participate in the exercise, to educate them on the importance of exercising their rights and power to vote as well as, undertaking the registration of all the eligible voters. We congratulate the Campus Director and all the staff fraternity for supporting these exercise. For those that don’t have their Voter’s Card, JKUAT Nakuru CBD Campus located at the junction of Moses Mudavadi Street and Oginga Odinga Avenue at REZMA Building, is the place to be starting today 3rd Feb. 2022 – 6th Feb. 2022.
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