Civil groups raise alarm over use of alcohol and drugs to influence young voters in Nakuru

In parts of London Ward, Nakuru, election season comes with more than just campaign posters and loudspeakers it also brings bottles of alcohol, a few crumpled notes, and promises that never last past voting day.

Locals say it's an open secret that some politicians use alcohol and drugs to 'motivate' young people on election day, turning what should be a civic duty into a chaotic, manipulated affair. As civil groups warn, this cycle could easily spiral into violence if nothing changes.

At a youth roundtable held in Nakuru, the civil society group Midrift Human Rights Network (Midrift Hurinet) sounded the alarm, stating that this problem runs deeper than just bad politics — it concerns unemployment, frustration and the ease with which young people are being exploited.

“Many of these young people are not violent by nature,” says Calvin Muga, a programme officer at Midrift. “But when leaders exploit their vulnerability through money, alcohol, or drugs, they end up being used to advance political agendas that don’t serve them.”

For years, Nakuru has been known as both a growing city and a political hotspot. It’s a place where communities mix, cultures overlap and, unfortunately, election tensions often boil over.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) still lists Nakuru among Kenya’s hotspot counties, citing long-standing land disputes, competition for resources and shifting settlement patterns. Peace actors say that these factors, combined with economic hardship and youth unemployment, form a dangerous mix.

"These are the very factors that make Nakuru’s young people easy targets. They’re frustrated; they want opportunities, and some leaders take advantage of that,” Mr Muga explains.

In an effort to break this cycle, Midrift Hurinet has joined forces with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to launch civic education and voter awareness campaigns aimed at young people in Nakuru. The goal is simple: to help young people understand that power lies not in alcohol or handouts, but in their voter registration card.

"We realised that voter registration among young people in Nakuru is very low. So we brought them together to talk about what it means to have a voter’s card because that card is your power. It’s how you influence leadership and demand accountability," he says.

Numbers from the IEBC support his concerns. Across Nakuru’s eleven constituencies, only 3,825 new voters have registered so far, with just 44 changes of particulars and 1,192 transfers.

Nakuru Town East leads with 1,022 new registrations, followed by Naivasha with 732. Subukia and Rongai are at the bottom of the list with 117 and 114 new voters respectively.

For a county with one of the largest youth populations in the Rift Valley, these figures are disappointingly low, suggesting either apathy or a loss of faith in the system.

“It’s not that they don’t care. It’s that many have stopped believing their vote matters. That’s why our training focuses on peer-to-peer mobilisation letting young people speak to their peers in their own language,” he says.

“When young people are empowered with information, they’re less likely to be exploited to cause chaos. They begin to see the voter’s card as a weapon for change, not as a gift from politicians," he explains.

With another election cycle approaching, civic groups are urging the government and political leaders to take youth empowerment seriously, not just as a campaign slogan but as a long-term investment in peace.

“If we empower them, they will protect the vote. But if we ignore them, others will exploit their frustration. And that’s how violence begins," he says.