The Cost of Our Vote

Last week I had an insightful conversation with my sister Maureen which went like this…

“…Just had a very interesting conversation with a young lady of about 30. She said to me 'ukitaka kura yangu, leta ngunia kumi ya unga niuze, ndio uchukue kura yangu'. She said that life in Kenya is too hard to 'vote for free'. I am utterly shocked by the fact that she thinks Kenya will not change soon and that one person cannot bring change. She is "educated" and a business woman. How can this selfishness, short sightedness and lack of belief be changed?”

Kikao Cha Mtana Tendai We press on! We seek the selfless! We encourage those who are determined to take the limits off our destiny! There will be no substitute for difficult conversations in this season. Conversations like the one you have just heard should spur us to find 5 more people who despite today's challenges are able to hope so that we may see increase and enlarge our economic territories! Connect with your destiny! Nipe Tano

As of the 7^th December 2012, the registered number of voters in Mombasa County was just over 200,000, 46% of the IEBC target.

Michael Waiyaki, a young Kenyan registers as a voter

What worries me is not the level of uptake in the process but the quality of the registration. To the non-political eye the registration may look like individuals who are interested in making a difference at the next election. However this is not the case. 50% of the registered voters in Mombasa have been coerced to register by a “financial” incentive, to be precise an average of Kshs. 200/- per voter. This is the down payment that some of our leaders are paying in exchange for power and authority! The balance of this amount (Kshs. 500/-) is payable on Election Day when this database of voters is brought out to vote!

Let us examine this transaction. If we hit the target of 437,000 in Mombasa, 50% of these voters will have been registered at the cost of Kshs. 700/-, an amount of Kshs. 150m will have been spent in exchange for executive, legislative authority not to mention at least Kshs. 4bn in procurement.

Has the value of our politics been reduced to Kshs. 700/-? When did we turn our political space to a market place? Are we worth Kshs. 140/- per year? Where has this Kshs. 150m been over the past 5 years? Could this kind of money not have built the schools we want to see, the clinics we seek to establish, and the investment promotions we desire?

Michael believes that his vote counts

As I have engaged the voters in Mombasa in getting more people to organize in groups of 5, many of them are encouraged by the increased options to choose from in the coming general election. Despite this public auction, I am encouraged by the level of discernment among the voters to take the money but know that their vote counts! Their hope lies in an efficiently run election that ensures that their vote counts. Issack Hassan, the team at the IEBC and the police force, the ball is in your court. Let us make every vote count!

Note to Isaack Hassan: Can the IEBC office in Mombasa set up registration centers in the CBD and the malls that will enable staff to register during their lunch breaks? Many may not make it on time to register, especially with the malls now open even on Sunday.