Kenya’s voter roll is steadily growing, though fresh data shows young people are not signing up in large numbers.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has registered over 250,000 new voters since launching the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration exercise in late September last year.
IEBC Commissioner Dr. Alutalala Mukhwana said most of the new registrations have come from urban and peri-urban counties, with Nairobi leading, followed by Kiambu, Machakos, Nakuru and Mombasa. He, however, raised concern over low turnout in arid and semi-arid regions such as Isiolo, Mandera and Tana River, citing challenges like sparse populations, nomadic lifestyles and difficulties in obtaining identification documents.
“There are also the issues of do they get their ID cards in time? There are cases in Turkana, for example, where elderly people don’t have birth certificates, leave alone IDs,” he said.
The data further shows that older voters dominate the new registrations, with those above 35 years making up over two-thirds, while youth participation remains low. Only about a third of the new voters are aged 35 and below, with the 18–20 age group recording the lowest numbers. Mukhwana linked this to delays in acquiring IDs after school and limited civic awareness, calling for early voter education to encourage participation. Overall, Kenya’s registered voters now stand at over 22.3 million, with men and women nearly equally represented, though regional and age disparities remain a key conc
