Journalist Allans Ademba leads massive Gen Z #TukoKadi voter registration drive

Ademba, who has been running the #TukoKadi online campaign, a digital mobilisation program aimed at registering en masse for the 2027 General Elections, on Tuesday, March 17, chaperoned hundreds of Kasarani residents to register as voters at the IEBC centre, within the D.O's offices in Kasarani sub-county.

Ademba's campaign follows a viral TikTok trend dubbed 'Small Circle' where politically-enlightened Gen Z have been gathering their friends, registering as voters and then sharing videos of their friend groups and their verified voter identification details.

Buoyed by the popularity of the challenge, Ademba unfurled the #TukoKadi campaign, seeking to take the movement away from TikTok and right into the IEBC offices, a classic example of Kenyans' insistence on taking matters to the 'ground'.

To roll things off, the journalism graduate created a WhatsApp group dubbed 'Kasarani Chapter' in which he asked willing Kenyans to join freely, as his team sent hour-by-hour updates to the group and kept the movement alive. 

Despite the fact that Ademba's event was slated to kick off at 9:30am, the IEBC staff at Kasarani had already registered 20 people by 8:58 am, a clear indication of Gen Z's insatiable appetite to be politically involved and seen.

Within the next hour, Ademba announced that over 70 Kenyans had already been registered, pegging his target at 500 people by the end of the day.

By midday, he announced that 100 more had been registered afresh, as well as 40 new transfers from previous polling centres to Kasarani.

By 1pm, the photojournalist again announced that his team had managed to secure 300 new registrations, while also sharing photos showing tens of Gen Z voting enthusiasts in a queue.

"We were not expecting this. We even have a queue. The turnout has been perfect. 100,000 is the target. Not just here, but everywhere. They said Gen Z are not registering to vote but we've shown them that we're registering. People are arriving in Ubers and with KFC.... " Ademba proudly said.

To keep the fire burning and perhaps fish even more people, Ademba and his team made most of the new voters record a short video after registration, which was then quickly shared on X, urging people to keep turning up in their numbers.

One by one, they all say: "Hi, I'm a Gen Z. Na niko Kadi!"

By 2:40pm, Ademba announced that they had managed 400 new registrations, and less than half an hour later, he again announced that the number had swelled to an impressive 500.

"Walai tuko sawa. Thank you guys for showing up. I was not expecting the turnout.  500 strong!" he wrote on X.

By 5pm, Ademba's team was still at the Kasarani IEBC centre, with fresh registrations still ongoing.

As it all happened, Kenyans on X expressed their admiration for Ademba's novel advocacy, with many hailing him for the selflessness and the genius idea in getting people to do more than just slam the current government - register to vote it out.

Hanifa Adan wrote, "What Ademba is doing needs to be emulated in every county and constituency. Please remember you’re never too young and too unknown to create change. From where you’re seated, take your people, go register as voters. Make it trendy, chase clout with it!"

Presidential candidate David Maraga was also impressed. He wrote: "Proud of you. @Ademba_47 and team for mobilizing youth to register as voters. Let us meet our #GenZ15MillionStrong target, mount a #BallotRevolution and send this regime to Kamiti."

Activist and lawyer Ory Okolloh also expressed her admiration for Ademba's work, saying: "#TukoKadi is important not just for the Presidential vote, all 6 seats must be taken seriously for any progress.  No six piece."

Several of Ademba's colleagues and activists also joined his team at Kasarani, with poet Willie Oeba vowing to replicate the same in Nakuru, and others expressing interest in importing the movement to their hometowns.

"Tukimaliza Kasarani na @Ademba_47, tunakuja Nakuru. Watu wachukuwe kura. Kihika aende home alafu jela. Watu wa Nakuru donge?" Oeba wrote.