National ID card sufficient for voting, says Sen. Moses Kajwang’

Homabay Senator Moses Kajwang’ on Thursday questioned why Kenyan citizens must acquire a voter’s card for them to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives.

While expressing his opposition to voter listing, Kajwang’ urged fellow Senators to make a case to the effect that once one is in possession of a National Identity Card, then they automatically become a voter.

“Why do you need a Voter’s Card when you already have a National ID? He posed

The lawmaker claimed that the process of registration of voters is the first step in rigging elections. He claimed the exercise has promoted a system to disenfranchise certain parts of the country.

“Once you are a citizen, you’ve got a right to vote.  We should not introduce additional bureaucracies in the name of registration of voters,” he told the Senate

According to Kajwang’, voter registration is also a very expensive undertaking and the country has to get it out of the way if it must cut down on expenditure.  He argues that registering voters afresh constitutes an unnecessary burden on taxpayers and these resources can be channeled to other projects.

“The last time we did that exercise, Kenya spent Ksh.7 billion on Biometric Voter Registration equipment,” he said

“Registration of voters is an area we can make savings. If we can take that Ksh.7 billion that I am sure IEBC is going to ask for, for another round of voter registration, that amount can take care of doctors and Junior Secondary School teachers,” reiterated the Senator