Editor's Review

Raila Odinga threatens to drop presidential bid ahead of the 2022 August election. 

ODM leader Raila Odinga has threatened to quit the presidential race if his Nyanza backyard fails to meet the targeted number of new registered voters. 

Speaking on Friday in Homa Bay, the former premier observed that clerks were idling at the registration centers with no one to register. 

"My rivals are having their people register as voters in large numbers because they have taken the presidential race in 2022 seriously. When I walk out there I am embarrassed because of the manner in which you are not taking this matter seriously.

“Do you want me to quit the race? If you do not register in numbers, then I do not see the reason why I should contest. We have to take this matter seriously and register," Odinga stated. 

{Raila Odinga in Homa Bay}

The former prime minister urged his backyard to go out and register in large numbers. 

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) rolled out the second phase of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) on January 17th and will end on February 6, 2022, in preparation for the August 9th election. 

The first enhanced voter registration exercise was concluded on November 2, 2021, with IEBC insisting it had no budget to extend the exercise even by a day.

The exercise achieved little success with approximately 1 million new voters registering as opposed to 6.5 million Kenyans that IEBC had targeted to register.