(sent by Steve Aseno)

ECK extends voter registration deadline

By Abiya Ochola

The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) has extended the voter registration deadline.

Eligible Kenyans now have up to July 31 to register as voters. ECK chairman Mr Samuel Kivuitu said the exercise, which was to officially end on Tuesday, was extended following improved issuance of national identity cards.

In a faxed statement to newsrooms, Kivuitu said the Government had pledged to meet the additional cost owing to the extension. Kivuitu announced that 477,345 new voters had been registered in the last one month.

Rift Valley province registered the highest number with 109,659, followed by Central with 83,501. Eastern province registered 73,959, while 54,926 voters were registered in Nyanza province.

49,586 were registered in Western province, 47,433 in Nairobi, 41,693 in Coast and 16,588 in North Eastern province.

The extension, the ECK said, would ensure nobody was locked out of voting in the upcoming General Election. The commission had previously indicated that there would be no extension of the registration deadline.