Kenyans in Qatar participate in voters registration at the embassy premises in Doha, yesterday.
The Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise will conclude today at the Embassy of Kenya in Qatar. The exercise carried out by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) enables eligible Kenyan voters to register for the upcoming presidential elections on August 9.
Commenting on the 15-day process, which started on January 23, Ambassador Washington A. Oloo, Charge d’Affaires at the embassy of Kenya, urged Kenyans in Qatar who are yet to register or update their voters’ credentials to take advantage of the last day of the exercise.
“I am very grateful for the turnout of Kenyans, which has picked up in the last few days. It has even stretched the IEBC team to work till late. Today being the last day, I will still urge Kenyans to take advantage of this opportunity. Registration is the only way they can participate in taking up their rightful share in governance,” Oloo said.
He noted that the Qatar centre has one of the highest registration rates in the diaspora and assured every eligible Kenyan present at the embassy would be given a chance to avail of the service.
“I am grateful to Kenyans in Qatar because, despite the challenges they may have, they have managed to come and register. So far across the diaspora, Qatar has done well and this is one of the highest stations in registration. I urge those who haven’t registered to come as we will be open until 5 pm. But should there be a need to extend the exercise late into the night, we will do so to ensure everyone present is registered,” he added.
Josephat Motitikwa, IEBC Doha Team Leader, said the exercise was extended for two days due to initial logistic delays but lauded the turnout from Kenyans.
“We have had a lot of people in the last few days. We believe that we will be able to finish the exercise as stipulated in the law in due course, and we have extended for two days already to cover the days we lost due to logistics. I am imploring Kenyans to come tomorrow (today) to finish their registration. We can work all night as long as there are people available to be registered.
The Qatar station is number one in the diaspora registration centres regarding numbers, and the experience has been good. We thank the Kenyans in Qatar who has turned up,” Motitikwa said.
Kenyans in Qatar join other Diaspora residents in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America (USA), South Sudan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Africa for the exercise.
