Kinyanjui laments low turnout as hitches rock voting in Nakuru

Several polling stations in Nakuru County had low turnout, with voting delayed in others because of defective Kiems kits.

Leaders including Governor Lee Kinyanjui expressed concerns about low turnout, saying elections are costly and the government should be worried that Kenyans were reluctant to vote.

"We have noted that in a good number of polling stations the voter turnout is low and therefore this is our plea to our people to come out from wherever they are and go to the polling station to make their choice since the process is smooth and peaceful," said Mr Kinyanjui.

His competitor, Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika, who also voted at Ngomongo polling station in Bahati constituency at around 7.45am, expressed optimism that she would win the governor’s race.

"I have cast my vote and I call upon all residents of Nakuru to turn out in large numbers and vote in support of my bid. I am confident that I will beat Governor Lee Kinyanjui and take over the leadership of Nakuru County," Ms Kihika said.

She urged Kenyans to be vigilant, claiming some State agents were keen to manipulate the presidential election results.

"From here, I am joining the Kenya Kwanza team in Nakuru to guard our votes and ensure our presidential candidate, Dr William Ruto, wins in the polls. We are keenly following the exercise in Nakuru and other parts of the country," she said.

She is running against Mr Kinyanjui, who is seeking reelection on the strength of the flagship projects he initiated in his first term.

Others seeking to unseat Mr Kinyanjui are Dr Stanley Karanja, economist Elijah Chege, former senator James Mungai and Munyua Waiyaki, who are all independents.

Mr Kinyanjui and Ms Kihika voted even as polling at several stations in Bahati and Subukia was delayed for more than 30 minutes due to technical hitches involving voter identification kits.

But voting kicked off at around 6.30am.

Some of the affected polling stations were Kiamaina Primary, Maili Sita and Ngomongo, where voting was delayed for about 30 minutes.

IEBC presiding officer Joseph Nandwa said that at Kiamaina Primary, difficulties logging into the voter identification kit had delayed voting.

"We had challenges when we started in the morning as the password we were using to access the Kiems kits was faulty, but the problem was later resolved and voting kicked off at around 6.30am," Mr Nandwa said.

In Subukia, voting kicked off smoothly at most polling stations, including Kabazi trading centre and Subukia centre.

In Nakuru West, most polling stations opened doors at 6am as voters turned up as early as 4am.

Voting at most stations went on smoothly, except for a few where disturbances were witnessed when some voters complained about missing names.

At Koinange Primary, voting was halted for about an hour at one station after a voter claimed to have encountered a pre-marked ballot paper for the governor’s seat.

After receiving ballot papers for all positions, the voter reported to presiding officer Sammy Lagat that the ballot paper for governor had been marked in favour of one candidate.

But Mr Lagat said he could not verify the claim as the voter raised it after spending some time alone in the voting booth.

"We could not identify the ballot as spoilt, because we believe she is the one who marked it. We asked her to cast it but she refused and tried to cause drama by calling more people," Mr Lagat said.

But the issue was resolved and voting continued.

Voting was also delayed at the Christian Outreach Church in Rhonda, Nakuru West sub-county, after clerics failed to open the gates on time.

But the keys to the church were provided at around 7.30am and voting proceeded.

In Nakuru East constituency, the names of some voters at some polling stations were missing.

Some voters’ names were missing from the Kiems kits at Menengai Primary and Nakuru Old Hall.

Reporting by Eric Matara, Purity Kinuthia, Joseph Openda and Richard Maosi