Raymond Moi accuses UDA leaders of intimidating voters in Rongai race

Rongai MP Raymond Moi has accused United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leaders who came to the constituency on voting day on Monday of intimidating voters to cast ballots for his opponent.

He said about 54 UDA leaders from across the country were deployed at polling stations in what they described as "adopt a polling station".

Nakuru East MP David Gikaria monitored the polls at the Mercy Njeri Primary School polling station, but he was ejected from Kiamunyi Mixed Secondary by angry supporters of Mr Moi.

"I came here to monitor the election as an elected leader and give moral support to our comrade Paul Chebor," Mr Gikaria said.

The Nation team found Nyandarua Senator-elect John Methu and Baringo North MP-elect Joseph Makilap with Mr Chebor, the UDA candidate, in the polling station at Ng'endaptich.

But Mr Chebor denied that they were agents.

"Raymond should stop panicking. He should wait for the results because I'm the next Rongai MP. In any case, he has served 10 years and I think that is enough time for an MP to serve," Mr Chebor said.

Mr Moi is undeterred. "Before [voting] started, I emphasised to the Independent Electoral Boundary Commission (IEBC) that they had a duty to ensure the election is free and fair, but it seems my pleas were ignored," he said

He continued: "Why should 54 UDA leaders unite because of one leader? That is intimidation and I'm greatly concerned."

He said he was shocked by the behaviour of the UDA leaders even after he raised his concerns to IEBC officials that the UDA leaders will not be agents.

"I'm shocked they are running up and down in Rongai flashing IEBC badges on their necks. You wonder how they got these badges. They accessed polling stations and yet they are not official agents," he said.

"We were told there will be two policemen and each candidate should have two agents. IEBC said nobody should be 400 metres from the polling station if he or she is not an accredited official.

"I think these elected leaders roaming all over Rongai with their mobilisers and other agents is not fair."

He said there was no level playing field and the UDA leaders were in Rongai to intimidate voters.

“However, I believe whatever they are doing is an exercise in futility and at the end of the day I will emerge the winner," Mr Moi said after voting at Mercy Njeri Primary School.

He continued: "I believe I will prevail today not because of my name or anything else but because of my work and what I have done for the people of Rongai for the past 10 years."

He said that just like on August 9, when there was a mix–up of ballot papers, he is still upset with the IEBC.

"These UDA elected leaders are all over Rongai dishing out money to the voters," he claimed.

Asked whether he could prove his allegations that UDA leaders were bribing voters, he responded: "Why are they here [in Rongai] in the first place? This is a day when voters should troop into the polling station freely. Why should they be accosted some 500 metres from all the 197 polling stations in the constituency?"

He added: "Why are these UDA leaders talking to voters? People have already made up their minds about who to vote for and I think they are breaking the law by campaigning when the official campaign period is over.

“The law is clear – campaigns end 48 hours before the voting and in this case, the campaign period ended on Friday."

He said the buck stops with the IEBC and said the electoral body was not conducting the elections in a free and fair manner.

Asked whether he would concede defeat and accept the outcome with this illegal campaign still on, Mr Moi said: “Let us wait until the results are declared."

He said he was concerned about low voter turnout and urged the constituency’s 84,625 registered voters to turn out in large numbers and vote.

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