By Duncan Mule
Kenyans abroad fought for their right to vote for many years and luckily the new constitution inaugurated in 2010, gave them the right to vote.
It was hoped that the new law would be implemented and fully fledged Diaspora voting actualized. However, with the notion of embracing Diaspora voting in a progressive manner, IEBC keep increasing the number of countries where Kenyans can vote in a very slow pace.
Its more than 10 years since 2010 constitution was inaugurated giving the Diaspora the right to vote. So far, Kenyans in the Diaspora can vote in only 12 countries namely, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, USA, South Sudan, Qatar, UAE, and Germany.
The registration process conducted and recent voting by the IEBC left many Kenyans out who were keen to vote. IEBC gave many reasons why it restricted registration and voting within the Kenyan embassies, but that formula left so many Kenyans out.
An estimate of close to 3 million Kenyans residing in different countries, only 10,444 registered and fewer voted. In 2022 election Kenyans registered as follows, Qatar 1,437, Tanzania 1,402, Uganda 1,211, Rwanda 1,090 votes, South Africa 958, South Sudan (977), Germany (314), the UK (798), UAE (745), Canada (366), and the USA (744).
Key lessons IEBC must address are as follows. IEBC must do all it can to facilitate Diaspora voting. IEBC must find ways before next general election through which Diaspora will register and vote without incurring unnecessary expenses.
For example, in big countries like USA, Canada, UK and others, IEBC should not restrict registration and voting exercise to the embassies. In the UK, Kenya embassy is London. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland are all part of the UK. There are no embassies in these distant “countries” and all dependent on the Kenyan embassy in London. So, the question to IEBC, if you were living in Scotland, Northern- Ireland or Wales, would you buy air ticket to fly to London for registration and buy another one to fly to London to vote?
It shouldn’t be Kenyans having to travel so far incurring so many expenses but instead, it should be IEBC officials going to these places and facilitating the voting exercise. A key lesson, IEBC should not sit and wait until next general election but should use the time wisely and find ways to facilitate more Diaspora voting before next general election.
