Former Mombasa gubernatorial contender Suleiman Shahbal after casting his vote during the August 8 election. [Photo: Suleiman Shahbal/ facebook.com]
A top Jubilee official has proposed a change of law to make voting compulsory in Kenya.Former Mombasa gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal said Kenya spends billions of money in organising elections and it would be a waste of taxpayer's money if Kenyans do not take part in elections.Kenyans returned to polls on Thursday to elect their president following the nullification of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election by the Supreme Court on September 1.The IEBC spent Sh12 billion to organise the repeat vote.“I think it has reached a time when we should make voting mandatory. Everyone should vote because it is shameful for us Kenyans to spend a lot of money in organising elections that people boycott,” Shahbal said.“One person comes out and says there will be no election and Kenyans fail to vote. It doesn’t make sense. We should make it mandatory, by law,” he added.In Thursday’s repeat poll, opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew his candidature and instructed his supporters to boycott the poll which he said would not be conducted in a free, transparent and fair manner.Shahbal also criticized the proposal by NASA to transform the coalition into a resistance movement.“We should stop all this nonsense about resistance. Resistance is here at the polling station. It is a civic obligation for all Kenyans to come out and vote,” said ShahbalCurrently, constitutionally, Kenyans have the choice to vote or not to.