Kiambu youth have been urged to register as voters during the voter registration exercise that is set to begin on February 15, 2016.
Speaking at St Andrews Church in Gitothua Ward on Sunday, Kiambu County Governor William Kabogo asked youth to apply for Identification Cards (IDs) in readiness for the registration.
Kabogo also asked chiefs to ensure that young people who have reached the age of 18 years register for IDs. The Kiambu boss stated that it is the constitutional right for every citizen to take part in the electoral process.
“Voter registration is set to begin soon and our appeal is to young people and any other person who has not acquired an ID, to do so in order to take part in the process,” he said.
The Kiambu governor said residents can only make the change they want if they register as voters.
This comes as the government says that over 300, 0000 IDs lie uncollected in various centres across the country.
On Tuesday last week, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said that 375,963 ID applicants have not collected the documents in the last one year.
The Interior PS who was speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Tuesday urged those who applied for IDs to collect them.
There have been complains by some applicants that the processing is taking too long, with many saying that they are likely to be locked out of the voter registration exercise.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is set to start the voter registration exercise on 15 this month.
According to the electoral body, the exercise will run until March 15.
IEBC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ezra Chiloba said the commission is targeting to register over eight million new voters ahead of the 2017 general election.