Residents of Murang'a County will not be allowed to drink alcohol beginning next week after bar and hotel owners reached an agreement in a bid to compel the locals to register as voters.
Speaking on Monday, Chairman of the local business owners' association, James Waweru, stated that they had decided to take advantage of the voter registration set to begin on January 16.
Mr Waweru divulged that they will demand to see a voter's card from anyone who will visit a bar or hotel before they are allowed to enjoy any alcoholic beverages.
“Just like you cannot drive without a driving licence, then you cannot drink without a voter’s card, hakuna starehe bila kura ,” Mr Waweru affirmed.
Mr Waweru called upon other business owners such as matatu and boda-boda operators to follow the same path and ensure all eligible voters are registered in the County.
The Chairman's order comes after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced on Monday that it had rolled out a countrywide voter registration exercise to begin on January 16 ahead of the much-awaited August 8th General Election.
IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba stated that the Commission will be targeting young adults who have just acquired Identification cards but are yet to register as voters.
"Records with the registration bureau shows that nine million Kenyan adults have identification cards but are yet to register," Mr Chiloba said.
Chiloba noted that IEBC had up-scaled and would now use 7,793 Biometric Voter Registration kits for the exercise up from 5,776 kits used in the previous process.
