Agano National Party Secretary General Odanga Pessa has explained that the demographics of the Kenyan youths will be the determining factor in the country’s 2027 presidential race.

Speaking on a live TV interview on Friday, October 3, 2025, Pessa stated that new numbers projected by the IEBC targeting the youths mean that the budding generation has the capacity to change the country’s leadership.

New target

“I believe the Gen Z and young people are the opposition based on the new dynamic and politics they have brought into our politics. In 2022, we had close to 8 million who never voted, and now IEBC says they are targeting 6.3 million, meaning the youths can determine who the next president and leaders.

Odanga, who termed the youth as the country’s opposition, implored them to harness the power they have shown in social media spaces and to take real action by voting.

He asserted that the polling station remains the only place where the youth can make their voices heard and decisions count.

Dont wait

“Let us not wait to be influenced,” he stated. “The 7 million votes plus 6.3 million is a number that you cannot joke with. If they decide to vote for one person, then that individual will win,” he asserted.

Odanga has therefore urged young people to take their civic rights seriously and determine the country’s next leaders.

“We have seen their urge to effect new leadership; this is the right time to get new leadership in the country. For one to be able to bring the new leadership, this war will not be fought on the streets; it will be fought in the polling station with your vote,” he stated.

” As a party, we urge the youth to come out and acquire the right tools to put in the right leadership. The challenges we had in June can only be put right by voting,” he added.

His sentiments come as the IEBC projected that about 70 per cent of voters in the next election will be youth, making them the largest voting bloc in the country.

“Fellow Kenyans, I particularly appeal to the youth, and I think most of the speakers, all your leaders have spoken about this. My commissioners have also spoken about this. And therefore, I am again just repeating it for the sake of repeating. And more importantly, because the youth, as you’ve been told, are about 70 per cent of the likely voters in the coming election,” IEBC chair Erastus Ethekon said during the launch of continuous voter registration.