Leaders from Kenya’s Coast region have intensified calls for greater political cooperation with William Ruto, linking recent reforms in national identity card issuance to a renewed push to mobilise voters ahead of the next general election.
Speaking during the President’s Iftar dinner at State House Mombasa, Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir said the Coast now has every reason to work closely with the national government after decades of marginalisation.
Nassir thanked the President for hosting Coast leaders and residents for the Ramadan Iftar, saying the gesture had resonated widely in the region.
“We thank you for remembering the people of Mombasa and the Coast. We hope this becomes an annual event and that even after 2027 we will continue to come together like this,” Nassir said.
The governor highlighted progress made after the President directed that the issuance of national identity cards be facilitated through the county government.
According to Nassir, the county registered significant progress within a short period.
“Within one month, about 9,000 people were able to obtain identity cards, people who for years had been denied them. After the Eid celebrations, we will begin the second phase to ensure everyone, even elderly citizens who have struggled for years, finally gets an ID,” he said.
Nassir said the increased access to identity cards would ensure that residents who were previously excluded from civic processes can now participate fully in national affairs.
“These faces you see here should not be like a swarm of locusts — many but uncounted. After getting these IDs, we will all go and vote and remember where favour is due,” he added.
Amason Kingi also welcomed the reforms, describing the long-standing challenges surrounding ID issuance in the Coast region as a historic injustice.
“I was born here and I have witnessed the discrimination. A Muslim child from the Coast would face a much longer process to obtain an ID compared to others, yet Kenya is one nation,” Kingi said.
He credited the current administration for removing what he described as barriers that had previously slowed the process for many coastal residents.
Kingi, who serves as Speaker of the Senate of Kenya, said the improved access to IDs must now translate into higher voter registration and turnout.
Using Kilifi County as an example, he noted that although the county has about 586,000 registered voters, more than 100,000 residents with identity cards are yet to register as voters.
“It is important that once our people get these identity cards they also register to vote. When the time comes to decide who leads this country and who leads at the grassroots, everyone must have that power,” he said.
Kingi revealed that Coast leaders were planning a regional mobilisation campaign covering Lamu County, Tana River County, Kilifi County, Mombasa County, Kwale County and Taita Taveta County to boost voter registration.
The leaders aim to increase the region’s voter turnout from about two million to 3.5 million voters in the next election.
Kingi further pledged political support for the President from the Coast region, noting that leaders working within the broad-based government would rally voters behind Ruto.
“We want to assure you that the votes which previously went to Raila in the Coast will now go to William Ruto. Next year we want not only to vote for you, but to vote for you overwhelmingly,” he said.
