The proposal warns that without urgent legislative intervention, Kenyan diaspora communities risk another cycle of exclusion in 2027.
Kenyans living abroad have formally petitioned the government to urgently procure a secure online diaspora voter registration system and guarantee their full participation in the 2027 General Elections.
They warned that failure to act will perpetuate the long-standing disenfranchisement citizens living outside the country.
The proposal was presented to Jaoko Oburu Odinga, Special Advisor to the President by the Kenyan Diaspora in Canada during Kenya flag raising ceremony held in Brampton City Hall in Ontario, Canada.
The meeting brought together key political and diplomatic leaders, including Brampton Mayor His Worship Patrick Brown, Kenya High Commissioner to Canada ambassador Carolyne Kamende Daudi, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Hon. Mohamed Firin, Brampton City Councillors Paul Vicente and Gurpartap Singh Toor, and officials from the Kenyan Canadian Association (KCA) led by its President and Executive Director, Ephraim Mwaura.
At the meeting, Mwaura underscored the political and economic significance of Kenyans living abroad, noting that the diaspora commands over one million potential votes, making it a decisive electoral force whose engagement can no longer be overlooked.
“Meaningful participation by Kenyans abroad will only be realised when they are genuinely represented across the country’s social, economic, and political landscape,” Mwaura said.
Despite constitutional guarantees, diaspora voting remains severely constrained. In the 2022 General Elections, only 10,444 diaspora voters participated globally, and their participation was limited solely to the presidential ballot
In Canada and the United States, voting was restricted to just three polling stations each, located at embassies and consulates, effectively locking out tens of thousands of eligible voters spread across vast geographical areas.
The proposal warns that without urgent legislative intervention, Kenyan diaspora communities risk another cycle of exclusion in 2027.
It calls on Parliament to amend the Elections Act and empower the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct a pilot programme followed by a full rollout of secure online voter registration and voting ahead of the next General Elections.
Central to the proposal is the adoption of secure digital voting platforms leveraging blockchain technology, drawing inspiration from successful global models in Estonia, Switzerland, and India.
The system would enable remote participation in all elective positions, including proposed diaspora parliamentary seats.
Proponents argue that blockchain-based voting offers end-to-end verifiability, immutable audit trails, and significantly reduced operational costs compared to manual overseas voting.
The proposal cites Estonia’s experience, where 51 per cent of votes in the 2023 parliamentary elections were cast online, as proof that secure, scalable, and affordable digital voting is achievable.
Switzerland’s verifiable e-voting trials and India’s blockchain pilot projects are also highlighted as evidence that such systems can work for large, dispersed electorates like Kenya’s diaspora.
Canada, with its vast geography and widely distributed Kenyan population, was proposed as an ideal environment for IEBC to pilot the online voting system.
Beyond voting technology, the proposal recommends expanding voter registration services and streamlining national ID and passport renewal processes to remove administrative barriers that continue to lock out eligible voters abroad.
The diaspora leaders further proposed a bicameral parliamentary model through establishment of 20 diaspora constituencies, mapped to global regions, with each constituency electing one Member of the National Assembly and one Senator for each Continent region.
This, they argued, would guarantee bicameral representation and ensure that the unique challenges faced by Kenyans abroad — such as dual citizenship, investment incentives, consular services, and deceased Kenyans repatriation fund — are addressed directly in Parliament and funds allocated and utilized at the grassroot level through restructured diplomatic channels that will involve the employment of Kenyans in diaspora in consulates and diplomatic missions.
Such representation, they noted, would also unlock opportunities for trade, education, innovation, and stronger international networks, while fostering greater national unity.
The proposal emphasised mobilising diaspora SACCOs and cooperative financial networks to channel remittances into structured savings, affordable credit, and community-driven development projects.
Diaspora remittances remain Kenya’s largest source of foreign inflows, surpassing earnings from tourism, tea and coffee exports, and foreign direct investment. In 2024 alone, Kenyans abroad remitted an estimated US$4.95 billion (Sh640 billion).
Yet despite this immense contribution, the diaspora remains excluded from legislative decision-making.
The proposal calls for dedicated diaspora seats in both the National Assembly and the Senate, modeled on global best practices in countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, and Senegal.
By implementing these reforms, the diaspora leaders argue, Kenya stands to unlock the full potential of its global citizenry, strengthen democratic legitimacy, and enhance long-term economic resilience.
