Kenya’s preparedness for the 2027 General Election will come under closer scrutiny as the country tracks the growth and make-up of the voter register, with the number of new voters, young people and Kenyans living abroad expected to offer a clearer picture of the electorate.
Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director George Morara said electoral figures would be among the key measures of the country’s readiness for the next election, calling for close attention to the voter register and other verifiable data.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Wednesday, Morara said the country should monitor the number of registered voters, youth participation and the possible expansion of diaspora voting as preparations for the 2027 polls gather pace.
The country had 22,120,458 registered voters during the 2022 General Election, according to data from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The figure was a 12.79 per cent increase from the 19,611,423 voters registered in the 2017 election. The 2022 register was audited by KPMG before it was gazetted by IEBC.
Morara said the next measure would be whether the electoral commission achieves its target for increasing the register ahead of 2027.
“IEBC has told us they are looking to add 6.3, 6.5 million people. So as the country goes to 2027, one of the truths we’ll be interrogating: Have they reached those numbers? Because they say that’s what they’re going to get us to the target. So if they get the target, the truth in terms of registered voters, which will be immutable, will be that there will be 28 million voters come 2027 if IEBC reaches its target.”
IEBC has already begun adding new voters through its Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration programme.
During the first phase, conducted in March and April 2026, the commission registered 2,612,725 new voters. Of these, 267,249 were registered through Continuous Voter Registration, while 2,345,476 joined the register through the enhanced exercise.
The commission had set a target of registering 2.5 million new voters during the 30-day exercise, which was carried out in all 1,450 county assembly wards as well as institutions of higher learning, Huduma Centres and IEBC offices.
Beyond the overall size of the register, Morara said its age profile would also be important, particularly as more young Kenyans become eligible to vote.
IEBC data shows that voters aged between 18 and 35 made up 39.84 per cent of the registered electorate in 2022. The group accounted for about 8.8 million voters, although its share of the register fell by 5.27 percentage points compared with the 2017 register.
Morara said the youth could make up a much larger share of the electorate by 2027, based on IEBC projections.
“In 2022, the youth demographic was about 39.8 percent. This time round, as we go into 2027, the youth demographic is going to be around 70 percent. That is according to the IEBC. So they’re targeting to register 5 million young people.”
He said the growth in the number of young voters would provide another important measure of how the electorate is changing ahead of the election.
The number of Kenyans living abroad who are registered to vote could also increase by 2027.
IEBC records show that 10,443 Kenyans in the diaspora were registered to vote in 2022, compared with 4,224 in 2017. The increase amounted to 147.3 per cent, although diaspora voters still made up only about 0.05 per cent of the total register.
The number of countries where Kenyans abroad could vote also rose from five in 2017 to 12 in 2022.
Morara said the next focus should be on whether the diaspora register grows further before the 2027 election.
“From 12, we want to see what the final number is going to be, and whether the voters will rise from 10,000 to a new number. Again, that is a truth we can establish.”
He pointed to Canada, where he said about 40,000 Kenyans had expressed interest in taking part in the election, as an example of the difference that could exist between the number of Kenyans living outside the country and those registered to vote.
Morara said establishing reliable figures would require continued checks and auditing of the voter register to ensure the numbers accurately reflect the electorate.
“We are looking at the numbers, the voter register. We want it to be clean. We want it to be properly audited, so that the 2027 general election, the outcome is accepted across the board.”
Amnesty International Kenya has previously called for the constitutional right to participate in free, fair and credible elections to be protected as the country heads towards the 2027 polls.
The 2022 register provides the starting point for measuring changes in the electorate, with the number of new voters, the share of young people and the growth of diaspora participation expected to show how Kenya’s voter population is changing ahead of the next General Election.