Raila Threatens to Withdraw From Presidential Race [VIDEO]

File image of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.
File image of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga, has stated that he might drop his quest to become the fifth President of Kenya if his strongholds do not register the required number of new voters.

Speaking in Homabay County on Friday, January 21, the former Prime Minister voiced fear that low voter registration could prevent him from clinching the presidency.

Raila revealed that efforts to get people from the region to register as voters were proving futile, adding that he might withdraw from the race.

"We want to bring change in this region and the only way we can do that is by staying strong. People in our strongholds are not registering as voters. We know how many people who are supposed to register, those who have registered and those that have not.

"We keep telling them to register but they don't want to. They keep asking us how it will help them. I am outside the government, if you don't want me to continue my quest, I will just leave it. Do you want me to drop out of the race? Do you? If you don't, please register as voters," Raila urged the electorate in his Nyanza backyard.

ODM leader Raila Odinga during the Azimio la Umoja Event at Kasarani on December 10,2021
ODM leader Raila Odinga during the Azimio la Umoja Event at Kasarani on December 10,2021
File

Raila noted that while people in his strongholds were not registering, his competitors' supporters are registering in large numbers.

He stated that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) clerks in the region were idle because they had no one to attend to yet many people have not registered as voters.

"IEBC clerks are idle. You will find them seated at the market with their mouths open chasing flies the whole day, they are registering 5 to 10 people a day. This is war. Nothing comes easy, you have to come out and register as voters," he added.

IEBC rolled out the second and final phase of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) on Monday, January 17, in preparation for the August 9 General Election. The process will be concluded on Sunday, February 6.

IEBC Chairman, Wafula Chebukati, stated that the commission received additional funding from the National Treasury to facilitate the second and final phase of voter registration.

Chebukati revealed that IEBC had a target of registering 4.5 million new voters who were left out in the first phase.

The Commission rolled out Phase I of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise from October 4 to November 5, 2021, where a total of 1,519,294 eligible Kenyans were registered as new voters against the target of 6 million.

Below is the video:

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