The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is holding a meeting with representatives of Youth-led and Youth-serving Organizations across the country in Nairobi. The meeting will discuss areas of collaboration and institutional commitments to support voter registration and planned activities for the 2022 General Election.

The IEBC is an independent body charged with conducting free, fair and transparent elections in Kenya. As such, the Commission is responsible for conducting or supervising referenda and elections to any elective body or office established by the constitution, and any other elections as prescribed by an Act of Parliament.

Kenyan youth have been disconnected and disengaged with political processes and electoral participation, and this has caused widespread apathy among young voters. Research before the 2017 elections shows that the majority of Kenyan youth show up in polling stations clueless about the impact of the exercise they are about to carry out.

They do not have access to sufficient civic education resources; they do not understand the dynamics of voting. Poor and unjust systems have resulted in Kenyan youth feeling detached from the entire system. Further, the political landscape in Kenya has not been very accommodating to young voters as it is full of ethnic balkanization and divisions that often cause youth to turn away.

In addition, young people typically do not sufficiently understand their constitutional rights and responsibilities. As a result, many do not feel that they have a role to play in the elections and governance of the nation. Our project aims to develop voter and civic education that will help to transform youth mindsets in civic matters. During elections, young aspirants are easily persuaded to step down for older aspirants who have money and more experience, therefore the youth do not participate.

Also, a less voter educated youth is a fertile ground for political manipulation and violence. This has led to youth who are not aware of their voting rights and or of the importance of getting involved meaningfully in electoral processes. Research done by the National Democratic Institute on the 2017 elections suggests that only 20% of the members of the 11th parliament were women, far below the required threshold. This project will also reach out to women and other marginalized groups. 

With the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, a mass of the population relocated to areas far from their assigned voting stations. There is, therefore, a need to address the change of polling stations without the requirements of going back to one's official voting center for a recommendation letter. Another notable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was the drag in the education system, proving that some high school students are eligible voters. The voter registrations, however, took place when these students were in class. Therefore, most eligible voters will not exercise their electoral rights due to a lack of accountability for some of these considerations. 

Only 1.5 million Kenyans have registered as new voters against the set target of 4.5 million. IEBC had targeted at least 6 million new voters but an analysis of the number of eligible voters as shown by the latest population census, the number of people who have attained voting age and unregistered people show a figure of about 9 million potential new voters. Of these, IEBC had targeted to register 6 million young people who have attained voting age in the past five years. The registration of six million new voters will raise Kenya's total voters register to 23.6 million, up from 19.6 million in 2017.  

IEBC Collaboration with youth serving organizations (YSO’s) will provide young people with a forum to fully and effectively deal with issues important to them during the electioneering period. The inclusion of youth idealisms in this collaboration will reduce the possible outcomes of politically incited wars and violence and enhance young people's skills needed to influence the forthcoming general elections.

The youth serving organizations are critical in mobilizing and organizing the young people in their networks to register and exercise their duty to vote. Given the distrust in the political leaders and government institutions, the YSO’s are in a better place to spearhead the civic education to combat the widespread apathy among voters in their networks. Many youth organizations work in the governance, civic and accountability space, and they are critical in encouraging the young people who are the bulk of the voting population in Kenya to exercise their democratic right. YSO’s also have grassroots networks that can be activated to ensure that voter apathy is countered and civic education is conducted.

The Youth Cafe’s overarching goal around youth inclusion and participation in politics is to increase the number of informed youth participating in the upcoming 2022 elections in Kenya, as well as increased participation of marginalized groups like women in the elections. 

The Youth Café is part of the Youth Coordinating Committee (YCC) working with the IEBC to drive voter education and enhance the voters registration drive. The members of the YCC are tasked with having continuous engagement with the youth throughout the election cycle to ensure they are well informed of the civic and democratic rights. The members are also tasked with mobilization through youth forums, where they get to conduct awareness of the electoral processes. The YCC will also work hand in hand with the IEBC and National Youth Council to come up with youth friendly programs and strategies to ensure that the electoral processes are not flawed. Furthermore, these programs are highly essential to ensure rigorous voter education up to the grassroot level.

During the meeting, The Youth Café will give recommendations which will reflect the and impact IEBC projects over the course of the five-year electoral cycle.

The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience and transformative change.

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