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Woman arrested for ‘buying’ voter identification cards
Kitale police station where a woman who was arrested on Monday night over alleged voters bribery is being held.
A woman was arrested in Kipsongo, Saboti sub-county on Tuesday night for allegedly convening an illegal meeting and buying voters’ identification cards.
Police are pursuing a male accomplice, who escaped in the 12am incident.
The two were found at a playfield near Shanti in the Kipsongo slum with a group of over 100 people. They were allegedly issuing money in exchange for identification cards.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jecinta Wesonga said the woman, whose name was not given, was detained at the Kitale Police Station as police investigate the allegations.
"We are pursuing a man who was in the company of the suspect at night and investigating the issue of bribery of voters," she told the Nation.
Queues were growing at several polling stations as voters turned out for the elections.
At St Luciano in Gatua, voting was delayed because of lack of early preparation and the setting up of tents. Some voters blamed presiding officers.
At Town Hall, there were long queues, with some voters turning up as early as 12am.
Defense Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, who cast his vote at the polling station, assured voters that they would vote despite failures of the electronic systems.
"I want to assure each and every voter that they will be allowed to vote. No one will go home without voting," he said after casting his vote.
He appealed to Kenyans to maintain peace during and after the elections, urging losers to accept defeat and the aggrieved to go to court.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) County Manager John Cox Lorionokou said that all the 761 polling stations in the county opened at exactly 6am.
“So far, voting is going on smoothly at all the polling centres in all the five sub-counties,” Mr Lorionokou said.
He thanked returning officers for ensuring that ballot boxes and accompanying election materials were delivered on time.
“The last batch of election materials left Kitale Girls School, which is our overall tallying centre, and reached the designated polling centres on time at 11pm,” he stated.
He said that 249 prisoners will exercise their democratic right to vote at four polling stations in the county’s prison facilities.
Representatives of local and international election observation groups have pitched camp in the county.
They include the European Union (EU), African Union (AU), East African Community (EAC), Elections Observation Group (ELOG), Council of Ward Administrators, and Kenya Red Cross (KRC).
Trans Nzoia has 399,230 registered voters.
