Khalwale waits fate as Ikolomani polls open

From left: Dr Boni Khalwale, Bernard Shinali and Dr Collins Matemba. Photos/ FILE

By DANIEL OTIENO and BENSON AMADALA (newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com)
Posted  Monday, May 23 2011 at 09:45

Voters in Kakamega County's Ikolomani constituency are streaming to polling stations to pick their MP, as the electoral commission reported a largely peaceful voting when the poll opened at 6am.

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The returning officer Benjamin Tarus said that several stations especially on the strongholds of some candidates had registered a high turnout, others saw a handful of people in the lines as at 7 am.

New Ford-Kenya's Dr Bonny Khalwale cast his vote at Malinya Primary School at 7am. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Bernard Shinali cast his vote at Lirembe Primary polling station at 6.30 am. Ford People candidate Dr Collins Matemba was yet to vote as of 8 am.

Although the voting exercise went on smoothly early in the morning, one person was arrested at Shikondi Primary School for double registration. Mr Taruis said that he would be arraigned in court later in the day.

Arrested

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) had indicated that 389 people had registered more than once as voters in the constituency. The electoral body had warned that should any of them attempt to vote, they would be arrested.

Both Dr Khalwale and Shinali expressed optimism that they would carry the day when the votes are eventually tallied.

The constituency has 63 polling stations 35, 833 registered voters. The voting exercise closes at 5 and the tallying of the voters expected to take place at Makhokho Secondary School. The results will be transmitted electronically to the tallying centre.

Dr Khalwale declared that this was the last time his name was getting to the ballot paper for a parliamentary seat.

He said that he would be running for the senator of the Kakamega County and declared that the polls were a defining moment in his political career.

“If I don’t win today’s by-election, I would have put my political career on the line because next year I will be going a for a bigger position”, said Dr Khalwale.

He said that the by-election would also determine destiny of the Luhya community in national politics, arguing that a win for the ODM candidate would signal that Raila Odinga still had a political grip on the region.

Petition

Dr Khalwale lost the seat after holding on to it for eight years following an election petition by Mr Shinali.

Mr Shinali on the other hand said that he was confident of “reclaiming a victory stolen in 2007 general elections”. He, however, decried cases of voter bribery and intimidation that had marred the campaigns.

He said that he had reported several incidents that took place last night in which some people were attacked.