By Arnold Ageta
Wiper National Vice Chairman Victor Swanya has launched the ‘Niko KADI’ campaign in collaboration with the bodaboda sector in Nyamira County to mobilize residents for the ongoing voter registration exercise.
Swanya, a former aspirant for the Kitutu Masaba constituency, expressed concern that Nyamira is lagging behind in the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise.
He cited the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) press release dated April 2, 2026, which revealed a significant disparity between Nyamira and its neighbors.
According to the latest IEBC data, Nyamira County has recorded only 3,299 newly registered voters, a sharp contrast to neighboring Kisii County, which has registered a total of 10,455.
Nationally, the commission has recorded 344,316 new registrations and 18,610 transfers.
Addressing the media in Gesima on Monday, Swanya urged the youth to take the lead in registration to ensure their voices are heard in the 2027 general elections.
Swanya questioned the IEBC Chairman Erastus Edung Ethekon’s directive for certain voters to register afresh saying this move will reduce the number of voters.
He asked why the Chairman is requiring re-registration for people who have participated in elections for years, expressing fears that the commission might be planning moves that could disadvantage voters.
During the launch at Gesima Police Station, Swanya checked his own registration status and, while his details were correct, he expressed shock that IEBC clerks in Gesima appeared to be using personal phones to verify details instead of the official Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits.
He warned Chairman Ethekon to address these technical issues immediately, threatening to mobilize Gen Z protests to defend voters’ rights.
The exercise revealed widespread frustrations among residents, as many voters who registered as far back as 2012 found their details missing from the current digital system.
In other instances, residents had their IDs rejected because the system claimed years of birth did not correspond with ID numbers, while some found their names in the system but noted that their specific polling stations and poll centres were missing.
Swanya inquired as to what the IEBC is up to when the BVR kits are not working as expected just a year before the elections.
The campaign has received strong backing from the local transport sector. Nyamira County Bodaboda Chairman Dominic Babu promised to lead the ‘Niko KADI’ drive, ensuring riders act as ambassadors in their daily business. Swanya noted his delight that the bodaboda sector has embraced the campaign, adding that riders will even help ferry the elderly and those living in remote areas to registration centers.
Swanya further raised the alarm over the delay in issuing national IDs to thousands of youths who applied as far back as last year, giving the government a two-week ultimatum to distribute the documents.
He warned that if these youths are not issued with IDs, he will mobilize mass demonstrations and an ‘occupy’ movement at registration offices and Huduma Centres, arguing that the IEBC cannot conduct voter registration without ensuring a mass supply of IDs.
The IEBC had earlier clarified in a statement on April 4, 2026, that fresh registration is only mandatory for those who registered manually before 2012 and never updated their details to the biometric system.
The commission maintains that the biometric register in use since 2013 is credible and is targeting 2.5 million new voters by the close of the exercise on April 28, 2026.
Following the launch in Gesima, Swanya took the initiative to scale the campaign across the county.
He visited Manga, Gesore, Nyamusi, and Borabu, where he led similar mobilization efforts to boost voter registration numbers and ensure a wider reach for the ‘Niko KADI’ movement.
