NAIROBI, Kenya — Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah has pledged to introduce compulsory voter registration for all eligible Kenyans and to overhaul the country’s voter registration system through a national referendum if elected president.
Speaking in an interview with K24 TV, Wajackoyah said he would push for a referendum within his first year in office to back legislative changes aimed at tightening voter registration.
He said this will particularly challenge the youth and Kenyans living abroad.
“This is what I will do if I become the president, and I have spoken of a referendum in the first year. I will make it compulsory,” Wajackoyah said.
Under his proposal, voter registration would be automatically tied to the issuance of key state documents, including national identity cards and driving licences.
“Before you get your National Identity Card or your driver’s license, you must also register as a voter,” he said.
“If you get your driver’s license, or register as a Kenyan, and do not register as a voter, you become functionless.”
Wajackoyah argued that compulsory registration would eliminate inefficiencies and corruption associated with periodic voter registration drives conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“So that we drive away this issue of earmarking finances, or special budgets, which will be stolen through the IEBC for voter registration,” he said.
The presidential hopeful also proposed expanded access for Kenyans in the Diaspora, who he claimed are systematically excluded from electoral participation despite their economic and social influence.
“Look at the Diaspora. We have so many millions of Kenyans in the Diaspora. They are deliberately denied the vote because the system knows that if the Diaspora were to come, it would influence the election,” Wajackoyah said.
He said voter registration for citizens abroad would be facilitated through Kenyan embassies and other designated secure environments, allowing them to participate in elections without returning home.
Wajackoyah also took aim at young voters, particularly Generation Z, urging them to translate political activism into electoral participation.
“Their legitimacy can only be manifested through votes,” he said. “I ask them to register because they are the only ones who can bring change.”
Kenya has previously struggled with low voter registration and turnout among young people, while diaspora voting remains limited to a small number of countries, despite repeated court rulings affirming the right of citizens abroad to vote.
Under Article 38 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, every citizen has the right to free, fair, and regular elections, including the right to register as a voter and to vote by secret ballot.
Any move toward compulsory registration would likely require constitutional and legislative amendments, alongside safeguards to protect political freedoms.
Wajackoyah’s proposals come against the backdrop of his broader rhetoric on governance and state power.
In a separate interview in November 2025, he described himself as a prospective “benevolent dictator, arguing that firm leadership was necessary to confront corruption and institutional decay.
“I will be a benevolent dictator because I have to regulate some of the things in this country,” he said. “It will not be business as usual.”
He pledged to pursue looted public funds and take aggressive action against corruption, including closing embassies he claims have enabled the stashing of stolen wealth.
