Jalango seeks to have the diaspora allowed to vote

The National Assembly’s Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers has affirmed its support to the Independent, Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in their quest to ensure the suffrage of Kenyan Nationals in the Diaspora.

This follows a meeting between the Committee and the Officials of the IEBC led by the Commission Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, CPA Maryan Hussein Marjan.

In a session chaired by Langata MP, Felix Odiwuor (Jalango), the Committee noted that there are a number of legal bottlenecks that have hindered the IEBC from rolling out voter registration and voting to all Kenyans in the Diaspora.

Kenyans in the Diaspora currently enjoy limited rights with regard to their participation in general elections. The law currently only allows them to vote for the President and not the other five candidates whom
Kenyans in the country have the privilege to vote for. Further, the law states that they can only be registered as voters within the precincts of a Kenyan Consulate, Embassy or High Commission, which are normally domiciled in the capital cities of the host countries.

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Jalango said that given that not all Kenyans abroad are domiciled in the capital, they end up being disenfranchised if they cannot make it to the capital to register or even to cast their votes.

Further, the currennt law does not envisage that voting happens outside of the official voting time back home despite the fact that the countries where voting is currently established are on a different time zone.

Speaking on the matter, Members led by the sessional chair Jalango, told the IEBC officials that they are willing to support the Commission’s proposals to amend the law to help as many Kenyans in the Diaspora participate in general elections.

“Mr. Marjan, this Committee was established to advance the interest of Kenyans in the Disaspora. We want to support any policies you may have that will address their plight and their quest for exercising their democratic right to vote”, noted Jalango.

Asked how much voter education the Commission had carried out prior to the 2022 elections, further decried that lack of an eduquate budget to cater for voter education abroad and the late disbursement of what was earmarked for the same had hindered a robust voter education exercise.

“Mr. Chairman, we have had a challenge with regard to getting adequate funding to conduct voter education abroad. The little funding that is availed also comes just a few months before the elections making the exercise not fully effective”, noted CEO Marjan.

Currently, it is estimated that more than 3,000,000 Kenyans live in the Diaspora although only a partly 500,000 are documented. By 2022, the Commission had enlisted Kenyans in its immigrant voting roll in 12 countries namely: United States of America, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Germany, Qatar, South Sudan, Canada, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Even as the Committee Members pushed the Commission to expand the registration of voters to more countries, the Commission cited lack of reliable data on the number and distribution of Kenyans living outside the country as a challenge.

The Commission also submitted that inadequate space in Kenyans mission abroad had and the restrictive regulation that Kenyans in the Diaspora can only register and vote in those missions had discouraged a number of Kenyans from participating in elections.

The Commission made a proposal to the Committee for the review of the legal framework on diaspora registration and voting especially providing for flexible registration and voting by way of online registration and advance/ early voting.

The Commission also urged the Committee to facilitate the pursue of a legislation to introduce online voting in the diaspora election.

In response to these requests, the Committee encouraged the Commission to consider working with all stakeholders especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate continuous voter registration.