Voter registration requirements for Sudanese living in Kenya have been eased

Note that the voter registration process, which was to end on November 30, has been extended to December 7.

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, November 24, 2009:

(Nairobi) - Voter registration requirements for Sudanese living in Kenya have been eased to make it simpler for them to vote.

The Sudanese Ambassador to Kenya, Guandong Majok, described the new conditions to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

[Guandong Majok]: “A Sudanese student who is 18 years old or above must have a valid passport and a student ID. This is considered as one of the conditions you should have to register. Regarding parents who are here with their children in schools, we have agreed that the mother should have a valid passport and have one of her children enrolled as a student in Kenya. This will enable her to register. We also formed a committee with a chief and people who know the members of the community because there are Sudanese who have been here since the war and after the peace agreement they got Sudanese passports and they live here. We also formed a committee between the Sudanese community and the embassy so that they can act as witnesses for people they know and these people will be allowed to register with their witness.”

There has been a marked increase of people going to register following the announcement of the new requirements.

Kuol Nyang Kuol is a registration officer at the Embassy. He spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

[Kuol Nyang Kuol]: “From November 10th until Sunday, only one or two people came during the whole day but today, as you can see, there are more than a hundred people.”

The voter registration process, which was to end on November 30, has been extended to December 7.