Moses Kuria, a former consultant to the President, has said that he is worried about how few young Kenyans are registering to vote right now.
Kuria said on Friday that even while many members of Generation Z are outspoken about social and political concerns, they are not registering to vote.
“Gen Z isn’t signing up to vote. From having no leader, no party, no shape, and no vote. Good!” Kuria said.
His comments come at a time when the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is having trouble getting people to sign up for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) programme that started on September 29, 2025.
Early reports and statistics from the field show that clerks at registration centres have been sitting around for lengthy periods of time since just a few new voters showed up.
A three-day spot check by The Star verified the low activity, which made some worry that the electoral agency would not reach its high goals.
The IEBC wants to register 6.3 million new voters by the 2027 general election. Most of these new voters are projected to be young people, especially Gen Z.
During the current registration phase, at least 10% of this number is projected to be recorded.
Even if things are moving slowly, the commission is nevertheless hopeful.
Officials suggest that more civic education and focused outreach initiatives will lead to more people voting as the exercise goes on.
Earlier, the IEBC said, “This CVR exercise will happen in all 290 constituencies and will be supported by 57 Huduma Centres to make it easier for people to get to.”
The activity also allows for transfers and modifications via constituency offices.
The organisation has come up with a step-by-step plan to increase the number of registered voters to 28.5 million by 2027.
There are three key parts to the plan: the present CVR (10% of the goal), a first Enhanced CVR (40%) that will take place after the by-elections on November 27, 2025, and a second Enhanced CVR (50%) that will take place in the following fiscal year.
To be eligible, applicants must be Kenyan nationals with a valid national ID or passport, not previously registered, not convicted of an electoral crime in the past five years, and not declared to be mentally ill.
People are increasingly asking whether internet activism is not leading to political engagement via official channels like voting.
Gen Z has led protests and online campaigns for legislative changes in the previous several months.
But the same enthusiasm doesn’t seem to be there for the important task of registering voters. Time will tell since the process is still going on.
Moses Kuria: Gen Z will be Leaderless, partyless, voteless
