Webuye West parliamentary aspirant Faith Wamalwa has stepped up efforts to mobilise residents to acquire national identity cards, saying the documents will be critical in ensuring they participate in next year’s General Election.

Wamalwa, who is backing Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s presidential ambitions, has called for the removal of bottlenecks delaying the issuance of national identity cards, arguing that eligible voters must be facilitated to obtain the documents and register as voters ahead of the 2027 polls.

She said ensuring residents have national identity cards was an important first step towards increasing voter registration and enabling them to exercise their democratic right to elect leaders of their choice.

The journalist turned politician revealed that she had conducted a series of impromptu fact-finding visits to government offices in Webuye West to establish the challenges contributing to delays in the issuance of identity cards.

Accompanied by Bokoli Ward MCA aspirant Charles Nakuta, Wamalwa visited the Office of the Registrar of Persons in Matisi, the Office of the Assistant Chief in Matisi Sub-location and the Deputy County Commissioner’s (DCC) office in Webuye West.

She said the visits were aimed at identifying administrative and operational challenges preventing residents from accessing their national identity cards in good time.

“We are fully committed to tracking down the bottlenecks and challenges that our people face when trying to get their national identity cards,” she said.

Wamalwa added that the team had gathered information and data that would inform a strategy to address the challenges and ensure that residents who had applied for the documents received them without unnecessary delays.

She linked the initiative to the broader political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 General Election, saying national identity cards were essential in preparing residents to participate in the electoral process.

The Webuye West politician specifically rallied support for Sifuna, saying the constituency needed to contribute to the numbers required to support his political ambitions and what she described as a return to constitutionalism.

“We need the numbers to return the country to Constitutionalism on August 10th under the leadership of H.E Edwin W. Sifuna,” she stated.

Her mobilisation drive comes as political players begin positioning themselves and building support networks across the country ahead of the next General Election.

In Webuye West, the initiative places emphasis on addressing challenges surrounding access to national identification documents, particularly among eligible residents who have yet to obtain them.

Wamalwa maintained that her team would continue engaging government offices and following up on the reported delays until the identification process became more efficient.

She said the ultimate objective was to ensure that eligible residents across Webuye West were not locked out of the electoral process because of difficulties accessing national identity cards.

The aspirant’s campaign is therefore seeking to connect the process of acquiring identification documents with voter registration and the wider political contest, with Sifuna emerging as her preferred presidential candidate.