In case you’ve seen the hashtag Tuko Kadi stylised as #TukoKadi online but haven’t had time to understand it, the short story is that its a rallying call for the youth to register as voters ahead of the 2027 General Election.
“Tuko Kadi”, loosely translated from Sheng to mean “we have the card”, first gained traction on TikTok, where users began sharing photos and videos of their voter registration cards and statuses.
Surprisingly, what started as a simple show-and-tell online has evolved into a wider peer-driven campaign aimed at normalising and promoting voter registration among the youth.
Photojournalist Allans Ademba recently amplified the campaign by calling on unregistered voters to meet him in Kasarani for registration. By the end of the exercise on Tuesday, Ademba reported that 641 new voters had successfully registered in a single day, a figure he described as proof that such efforts could significantly boost national numbers.
“Leo tumefika 641, 100k is achievable across the country,” he said late on Tuesday evening.
The hashtag has since spread across platforms, with participants urging friends and followers to register and be counted.
The trend comes at a critical moment for Kenya’s electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which has set an ambitious target of registering 6.3 million new voters ahead of the 2027 polls.
Speaking during a youth engagement forum in early February, IEBC officials emphasised that young people remain central to achieving this goal, urging them to actively participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
However, early figures suggest turnout has been slower than expected, particularly among young voters, a gap that initiatives like #TukoKadi are now attempting to bridge through organic, community-driven mobilisation.
Following Tuesday’s success, Allans Ademba now says he will take the initiative across the country.
“I plan to take #TukoKadi to all parts of the country. I know many people didn’t get the chance to join us…but be ready. Our next location is still Nairobi,” he said.
Further encouraging those who haven’t registered to join them with their Identification cards.
As it usually goes, the initiative has led to online discourse with opponents of the initiative arguing that #TukoKadi is merely a fad that risks turning voter registration into a popularity contest driven by social media clout.
However, supporters have countered that argument, saying that regardless of its online aesthetic, the movement is helping to reframe civic duty, particularly in a country that has struggled with voter apathy in previous elections.
During the 2022 General Election, Kenya recorded its lowest voter turnout in over a decade, with reports indicating that the decline was largely attributed to young people staying away from the polls.
Additionally, an election observation report by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) similarly identified youth dissatisfaction and apathy as a significant challenge in the lead-up to the vote, noting that efforts to mobilise young voters had limited success.
In the past, political analysts have linked this disengagement to broader issues, including disillusionment with political leadership and a lack of trust in electoral processes, reinforcing why proponents of #TukoKadi see the campaign as a timely intervention in reviving youth participation in Kenya’s democracy.
The initiative is now hoping to register 15M new voters before the elections set for August 2027.
“We are saying 15 million strong, that means 15M young Kenyans on the ballt box.”
