Natembeya frustrated as only 71 people register as voters in Trans-Nzoia
By Mabonga Makhanu, October 4, 2025Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has come out very exasperated after the whole county only registered 71 people by day five of mass voter registration.
While speaking during a function in Kwanza Sub-County on Friday, October 3, 2025, he voiced his disappointment at how very few people had turned up to register as voters, with a constituency like Kwanza only registering four people.
“Watu ambao wameregister Trans Nzoia mzima kama wapiga kura ni 71; niliona nikatoa machozi. Sasa hata mkisema Natembeya aende mbele nitaenda na nani! Watu ambao wameregister Kwanza Constituency ni watu 4,” said Natembeya.
Natembeya, who is positioning himself as the kingpin of the region, a move strongly embraced by locals, stated that for him to negotiate with other like-minded leaders from other regions, he requires strong backing from his community.
According to him, he had assured the united opposition that he had over 5.5 million people rallying behind him to enable him to negotiate for power. However, with such results from voter registration, he argued that he risks not being taken seriously and may not be able to negotiate for power.
He explained that in political negotiations, one must have either numbers or money, and since he has no money, the only strength he can bring to the table is numbers. With such low voter registration turnout, he said it would be impossible to negotiate.
“Na kwa sababu sisi pande hii ya Western Waluhya ni maskini ya Mungu, hatuna pesa. Kwa serikali inahitaji pesa ama numbers, mimi nimeambia hawa watu ati nakuja na watu millioni 5.5 na wanacheka,” Natembeya lamented.
Voter registration
This comes six days after the mass voter registration was launched by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman, Erastus Ethakon, in Kajiado. The electoral body is targeting over 6.3 million young new voters.
IEBC has rolled out new advanced technology that departs from the traditional biometric voter register, which was heavy and bulky to carry, to the new KIMS kit that is able to detect IDs and perform face scans, fingerprints, and iris scans at the same time.