Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni has claimed that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) would have been the ultimate catalyst for young Kenyans to access political power in Kenya.

Speaking in an interview with a local station on Thursday, April 2, 2026, Kioni said that the current governance structure remains rigid and often hostile to young people seeking more than just a supportive role in political movements.

He argued that the constitutional changes proposed in the BBI were specifically designed to ‘open the space’ for a new generation of leaders.

“I keep going back to that document called the BBI. It was opening the space. If we had passed it to 2022 or 2021, it would have been much easier for a Gen Z person now to get into power.

“They would have been able to bargain for a proper chair and say we want the deputy prime minister’s position or we want the deputy president’s position,” Kioni said.

Opening space for leadership

Kioni criticised the traditional political class for viewing the youth merely as a voting bloc to be exploited rather than a group capable of governing.

“The unfortunate thing about our politics and our governance structure is that it doesn’t quite open itself up to this youth barge in terms of them coming into leadership. It is like, you know, channelling them to support a cause,” Kioni stated.

Kioni’s remarks come amid the ongoing campaigns by the youths to get into power by leading the Niko Kadi campaigns aimed at removing some leaders in office.

IEBC targets 6.3M votes

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has embarked on the voter registration drive ahead of the 2027 general elections.

On voter registration, the Commission has stated that Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) commenced in September 2025 and will be complemented by enhanced Mass Voter Registration (MVR), which is planned to be escalated to the ward level in March 2026.

To support this process, the IEBC is implementing pre-registration reforms and system upgrades aimed at improving efficiency, reducing congestion at registration centres, and enhancing the overall voter experience, particularly for young voters and first-time registrants.

Across the country, young Kenyans are already energised, pushing a strong civic message through the rallying calls Niko Kadi and Tuko Kadi to encourage voter registration. The slogans reflect a growing awareness among first-time voters and those who have yet to join the register.

The upcoming contest is a high-stakes numbers game with the country’s political future on the line.

The current administration is moving to capitalize on the IEBC’s Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration program, aiming to secure 2.5 million new voters in its opening phase.

This is part of a broader strategy to influence the 6.3 million voters expected to join the rolls ahead of 2027. Currently, an estimated 12 million Kenyans hold national IDs but remain unregistered, a massive, untapped voting bloc that has become the primary battleground for both political camps.