Kanchory exposes scheme seeking to discourage youth from voter registration
By Mabonga Makhanu, September 30, 2025Lawyer and political analyst Saitabao Ole Kanchory has cautioned young Kenyans against falling for claims discouraging them from registering as voters on grounds of data security and protection.
In a statement released through his social media platforms on Wednesday, September 30, 2025, Kanchory, who served as Azimio’s chief agent during the 2022 General Election, dismissed concerns that personal data collected during voter registration would be at risk.
He argued that the information of many young people is already widely available on platforms such as Google, Safaricom, X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, making data security an invalid excuse for avoiding the process.
He further emphasised the importance of voter registration, noting that the country’s democratic future depends on active participation by young people.
According to him, the struggle for credible elections has already cost the lives of some youth, and therefore, the exercise should be taken seriously.
“I am seeing some people misleading our young people not to register as voters on account of data security and protection. Your data is already with Google, Safaricom, X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and every other wicked site you visit. Let’s cut the crap and register. This is a struggle that some of our young people have already paid for with their lives. Let’s take it seriously, damn it!” Kanchory stated.
IEBC commissioner Anne Nderitu, while speaking during a TV interview on Monday, September 29, came out to address the issue of data protection that has become a matter of concern as the electoral body kicks off voter registration.
Data protection by IEBC
She outlined ways in which the commission has established to make sure that personal data is protected, noting that the voter verification exercise is being done in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 2019.
“In terms of data protection, the Data Protection Act says that when you collect data, you must use it for the purpose that you have collected it for. One important issue is to make sure that the IEBC register is only used by the IEBC for purposes of voting. That is why when we are giving you the register, including the political parties, we truncate some details, so you don’t have a complete register or everything that is in that register, and we use it for the purposes of the election only.”
“We have done a data impact assessment every other time we have signed a data privacy agreement; we are also following in terms of the Data Protection Act.”
This comes a day after IEBC kicked off mass voter registration, an exercise that was launched in Kajiado by the commission’s chairman, Erastus Ethekon, with them looking to tap over 6.3 million new voters.