Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, excited a crowd after he made a promise over the ongoing mass voter registration.
While speaking at City Hall, Nairobi County on Tuesday, January 18, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader urged the electorate to register voters, promising to facilitate the process.
Raila stated that they were willing to release more funds to the electoral body to facilitate the registration of voters even at night.
"There is no sleeping. Every morning get up early and go there to register and even if these people (IEBC) want to work until the night it is okay. Money is there and we shall release it," he stated.
The ODM boss was forced to pause his speech as the crowd cheered him even as Nairobi Governor, Anne Kananu, led other dignitaries in giving the former premier a standing ovation.
Further, he stated that Azimio had an upper hand in the city, adding that he intended to add an additional one million voters.
"Here in Nairobi in 2017, I got over 900,000 votes and Uhuru got over 700,000. If you add the two you get around 1.6 million votes. We want that number to get to over two million.
"That is why I don't want you to take 400,000 or 500,000 votes. I want you to push it to around one million," he stated.
Raila explained that he needed his troops to rally behind his presidential bid even as the country heads to the polls in less than eight months.
The statement by the ODM leader comes after IEBC officially launched the second mass voter registration on Monday, January 17, which is scheduled to run till February 6.
Speaking during the official launch of the exercise, IEBC chairman, Wafula Chebukati, stated that they were targeting to register 4.5 million new voters even as they extended the process to the diaspora.
After finalizing the first registration exercise in 2021, the electoral body indicated that they had doubts about carrying out the ongoing exercise. At the time, they explained that the government had not availed the required funds for the exercise.
