A youth-led campaign is attempting to make voter registration more appealing to Kenya’s Gen Z voters ahead of the 2027 general election. Ademba Allans, a student turned civic mobiliser, launched a social media campaign encouraging young Kenyans to register as voters.
Using selfies, music and humour, Allans sought to present civic participation in a style aimed at younger audiences. The campaign launched concurrently with Kenya’s 2026 enhanced voter registration exercise, in which the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission registered 2,612,725 new voters.
Allans said the campaign reflected how young people engage with politics. “It was the Gen Z way of doing politics,” he said. “Fun, trendy, sexy, fashionable.” He said the campaign generated a sense of excitement that encouraged more young people to participate.
Kenya’s youth have become an increasingly visible force in the country’s political landscape. Young people led large protests in 2024 against a proposed tax bill which saw the government withdraw the legislation. The protests were followed by a security crackdown in which demonstrators were killed and injured. Allans has avoided endorsing a particular candidate or political party.
Instead, he says his campaign seeks to encourage young people to choose leaders based on their own views. “There has never been a case where there is a bloc that is not affiliated to any person or any party,” he said.
Kenya’s electoral authorities have projected that most of the additional voters expected before the 2027 election will be young people. The commission has projected registering 5.7 million additional voters. Political analyst Tom Mboya described youth-led movements as unpredictable because they operate largely outside traditional party structures.
He said such movements could become politically significant if they eventually support particular candidates. President William Ruto and his United Democratic Alliance are already preparing for the 2027 election. Ruto has said UDA is working with other parties ahead of the vote.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has also attracted large numbers of young people to his rallies. For Allans, however, the focus remains on voter participation rather than party politics. He hopes to mobilise another 2.3 million young people during the next registration round.
