LIVE: Kamukunji voters elect new MP

  SHARE BOOKMARKPRINTEMAILRATING

By NATION Team
Posted  Thursday, August 18  2011 at  09:41

Share This Story

385Share 

LIVE: Kamukunji voters elect new MP

  SHARE BOOKMARKPRINTEMAILRATING

Kamukunji constituents line up at Eastleigh High School August 18, 2011, to cast their vote during a by election to elect a new MP. TOM MARUKO 

By NATION Team
Posted  Thursday, August 18  2011 at  09:41
17: 43 Over 200 officers deploy at the tallying centre to maintain security as party agents start permutations, the Nation's Casper Waithaka.
17: 40 We are back. Vote counting underway at YMCA Shauri Moyo tallying centre.
15: 05 Polls close in Thursday’s Kamukunji by election. We will be back in an hour to relay results.

Share This Story

479Share

16: 58 MPs Gideon Mbuvi and William Kabogo storm Heshima Primary School and cause a huge commotion, reports John Ngirachu.
16:53 Heavy police presence at YMCA Shauri Moyo tallying centre as polls draw to a close, Nation's Casper Waithaka reports.

16: 43 At least 42 voters arrested, 38 of them for double registration and five taken into custody at Pangani Police Station for shouting party slogans as they cast their votes.

16:30 Just 30 minutes left for Kamukunji constituents to vote.16: 40 The clock ticks down on a mini poll that though peaceful was marred by double registration and allegations of vote buying and voter bribery.

16: 15 More movement in and out of various polling centres as voting deadline draws ever closer, Nation's John Ngirachu and Casper Waithaka report.

16:00 One hour to go before voting closes.

IMAGE GALLERY

15:55 The new MP will have just over 11 months to come good on promises made during campaigns including tackling unemployment, land grabbing. That is if elections are held in August 2012.

15:38 With the mini poll being held on a weekday and voting closing at 5pm, quite a good number of the employed may be locked out.

15:30 Voting closes in 90 minutes.

15:20 At Muthurwa market, GNU candidate Muthoni Kihara says an SMS text saying that she had dropped out of the race is "damaging" since most of her supporters had initially believed it to be true.

15:05 Votes will be tallied at the YMCA Shauri Moyo from 6pm, where security is tight.

14: 35 If all goes to plan, Kamukunji voters will know their next representative in Parliament by 8pm, thanks to electronic tallying by IIEC.14:50 Five people are being held at Pangani Police Station for shouting party slogans as they voted, which is an electoral offence. From Nation's Casper Waithaka.

14: 23 IIEC Commissioner David Chirchir says voter turnout has reached 35pc, the accepted international standard for any election. " Any results will be valid," he says.

14:20 There is a heavy presence of police in anti-riot gear drawn from both regular and administration police units at Eastleigh High School, the scene of a morning confrontation between Mr Ahmed and IIEC officials, reports Casper Waithaka.

14:12 In an editorial, the Daily Nation avers that Thursday's mini poll will be a further test of IIEC's credibility and would herald a peaceful 2012 vote.

14:06 The Nation's Casper Waithaka reports low voter turnout at Uhuru Primary and Buruburu Primary schools.

14:03 The Kamukunji by election is the tenth one since the last elections, an indictment of a flawed voting process that characterised the 2007 General Election.

13: 59 Voting ends at 5pm and tallying expected to start an hour later.

13:40 For an image gallery of the by election see: IN PICTURES: Kamukunji by election.

13:27 IIEC says at least 30 people arrested for double registration at various polling stations and turnout stands at 30pc as at 12.30pm. (Read: 30 held over double registration in Kamukunji poll)

13:16 At Uhuru Primary School, six people have been arrested for double registration, reports Casper Waithaka.

13:00 The issue of double registration could have crept up in the run up to last year's referendum on the new Constitution when IIEC allowed voters to register anywhere.

After the plebiscite, the electoral body asked people to transfer their voter's cards to their respective constituencies and gave an amnesty for the double-registered.

12: 52 The IIEC director in charge of ICT Dismas Ong'ondi tells Nation reporter John Ngirachu that 22 double registered have been arrested so far.

12:46 Live tallying of votes will be conducted at the Laico Regency Hotel from 6pm.

IMAGE GALLERY

12: 41 The IIEC says it has no evidence of bribery. "No candidate or agent has led us to anybody offering bribes. I have also seen no photo or video evidence," says Mr Mwashigadi.

12: 39 Commissioner Mwashigadi says IIEC has turned away people designated as 'super-agents' who were moving in groups. Only one 'super-agent' allowed, reports John Ngirachu.

12: 22 More numbers: 15 people have been arrested for double registration, reports the Nation's John Ngirachu.

12: 16 Some statistics: IIEC's David Chirchir says that by 11am, 26 per cent of the 128,562 registered voters had turned up at the 23 polling stations in the constituency.

12: 10 Our reporter says that most of the double registered voters hail from Mandera and Ladgera in northern Kenya.

12: 06 The highest number of double registration (400 cases) has been recorded at Eastleigh High School, according to reporter John Ngirachu.

11: 59 Kamukunji Returning Officer Joseph Masident has warned that anyone found bribing voters will be arrested. "We will arrest anybody if need be."

11:50 Voters are still streaming into various polling centres across the vast constituency. They have until 5pm to vote.

11: 48 Presidential aspirants: Mr Odinga (ODM), Mr Musyoka and Mr Kenyatta (G7) and Ms Karua of Narc-K are likely to treat a win by their candidates as a vote of confidence by the electorate.

This has been demonstrated by their aggressive campaigns and the message they have been passing to voters in the constituency.

11: 40 The Nation's John Ngirachu reports that a truckload of the GSU and another of the regular police is camped outside Eastleigh High School tod deal with any eventuality. But all is quiet.

11: 36 Ms Cindy Wambui, who has been jobless since she completed O-level in 2009, says she prefers an MP whose priority would be unemployment.

“Time is limited, and we cannot heap a lot of expectations on who will be elected, but we need a person who will provide immediate solutions to some of problems facing Kamukunji residents,” she says

11: 33 Kamukunji voters have also weighed in with different priority needs that they want their MP to address.

11: 29 They are: Ms Catherine Muthoni Kihara (GNU), Mr James Matagaro (Kenya Social Congress), Mr David Waihiga (Agano), Geoffrey Mutuku (TIP) and Mr Daniel Omao (Ford People).

IMAGE GALLERY

11: 25 It is not all about "Jonny", Mr Yusuf or Mr Weke in the Kamukunji race. Five other candidates are also gunning for the seat.

11: 15 Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru (ODM) has predicted a win for her party in an address to the press where she also claimed that rival PNU was engaged in vote buying.

11:10 An Institute for Education in Democracy (IED) observer says there are a large number of assisted voters, a majority of them women. However, at Maina Wanjigi Primary School a significant number of men were also assisted to vote.

11:06 The seat fell vacant after a court nullified the election of former MP Simon Mbugua.

11:00 Last month, the Appellate Court ruled that the Kamukunji by election will go ahead after it lifted an injunction issued by a lower court. (Read: Kamukunji by-election to go ahead, Court rules).

10: 55 Grand National Union (GNU) candidate Muthoni Kihara votes at Morrison Primary School and dismisses as "rumours" claims that she has stepped down, Casper Waithaka reports.

10:53 IIEC Commissioner DouglasMwashigadi says at least nine voters are being held by police over double registration, reports John Ngirachu.

10:47 The candidates have identified land grabbing as the vice that they will strive to eradicate if elected as the next Kamukunji MP. (Read: Candidates ride on anti-land grab campaign in Kamukunji)

10: 39 IIEC Commissioner David Chirchir on turning away voters: "The law requires that voters must produce their IDs and whereas there are modern ways of verifying identity, we must follow the law."

10:36 At one point, the IIEC was forced to turn away voters who turned up to vote without an ID card as required by law. They produced passports, police abstracts and ID waiting cards.

10:30 Mr Weke also alleges massive vote buying last night by both ODM and PNU politicians to sway the vote in their favour.

10: 26 Narc Kenya candidate Brian Weke casts his vote at Dr Livingstone Primary School.

10: 21 Political analysts are predicting that the voting pattern in the by election could be swayed by succession politics.

The leading pack of three candidates in the race are supported by politicians eyeing the presidency in the next General Election, namely Prime Minister Raila Odinga (ODM), Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka (both members of the G7 alliance) and Martha Karua (Narc Kenya). (Read: Succession politics likely to define Kamukunji elections)

10:15 "Vote buying is common in Kenya elections but I will accept the results whether I win or not," said Mr Ahmed moments after casting his vote.

IMAGE GALLERY

10:10 He told reporters that he has decided to go round the polling stations to ascertain the claims.

10:08 ODM's Ibrahim Ahmed has just voted at Saint Teresa's Boys Primary School and said claims of electoral malpractices were disappointing.

10:05 Earlier, confusion marked the beginning of the mini poll as party agents clashed with the Interim Independent Electoral Commission officials over documentation. (Read:Confusion mars start of Kamukunji poll)

10:01 He also urged security agents to be vigilant and ensure that the voting is free and fair.

9:55 Mr Hassan cast his vote at Eastleigh High School at 8.25am and immediately commended reports of voter bribery and double registration.

9: 50 The leading candidates are ODM's Ibrahim Ahmed "Jonny", PNU Alliance candidate Yusuf Hassan and Narc Kenya's Brian Weke. However, by elections have a knack of pulling surprises so any aspirant can clinch it.

9:45 Voters in Kamukunji go to the polls Thursday to elect a new MP in a by-election that has attracted eight candidates.