Hope Centre’s Move to Withdraw as Polling Station Sparks Outcry in Dagoretti North

Residents of Gatina Ward in Dagoretti North are raising concerns following reports that the management of Hope Centre has written to the government requesting not to host the 2027 General Election as a polling station ,  a move that could disenfranchise more than 20,000 voters.

For decades, Hope Centre has stood as a pillar of the local community, offering social and humanitarian services that have benefited thousands of residents. Its founders envisioned it as a space that would uplift and serve the surrounding population. It is for this reason that many locals now find the management’s reported decision both surprising and deeply troubling.

Community members argue that hosting an election once every five years is a modest request for a facility that has grown and thrived with the support of the very residents it now risks shutting out of the democratic process.

“Hope Centre exists because of this community,” said one resident. “Requesting the facility to host a polling station once in five years should not be seen as a burden.”

Local leaders and residents warn that the decision, if upheld, could have far-reaching consequences. Hope Centre has traditionally served as a convenient polling station for thousands of voters in Gatina and the surrounding neighborhoods. Removing it from the electoral map would force voters to travel longer distances to cast their ballots, potentially discouraging participation in the democratic process.

Residents have vowed to demonstrate  against Hope center management if they go ahead with their threats of locking them out of the facility during the 2027 General elections.

The development comes at a time when the country is approaching a crucial electoral boundary review by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Gatina Ward is among the areas reportedly under consideration for subdivision in order to bring services closer to the people due to its growing population.

Residents say the prospect of a new ward is meant to enhance representation and improve service delivery. Against this backdrop, the reported move by Hope Centre’s management appears to many locals as a contradiction of the broader goal of strengthening civic participation.

“Boundary review is meant to bring services closer to the people,” a community organizer noted. “It is therefore illogical for a center that prides itself as a beacon of hope for the community to take steps that may disenfranchise voters.”

Community leaders are now calling on the management of Hope Centre to reconsider their position and engage residents in dialogue. Many believe that maintaining the facility as a polling station would reaffirm its longstanding commitment to the people it serves.

For residents of Gatina, the message is simple: the relationship between the centre and the community is inseparable.

As one resident put it, “There is no Hope Centre without the community.”

With the 2027 elections on the horizon and the boundary review process looming, the unfolding situation is quickly becoming a defining civic issue for the people of Dagoretti North — one that will test both community solidarity and the spirit of democratic participation.