Bungoma senate by-election: Polling stations open across the county
Electoral officials confirm election materials at Bungoma DEB polling station on December 8, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The vote was triggered when Ford Kenya's Moses Wetang'ula, who had won the seat in the August 9 election, resigned in September after he was elected the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Low voter turnout characterized the Bungoma senate by-election as the battle for supremacy for control of Western Kenya politics played out in the mini-poll.
Voters trickled in cast their ballots shortly after the polling stations opened at 6am and by mid-day, presiding officers and polling clerks in several polling stations visited by the Nation, were busy chatting and relaxing as they waited for voters to show up.
Voting kicked off smoothly after the polling stations were opened shortly after 6am across the county with the main contenders from Ford Kenya, UDA and Azimio saying that the outcome of the polls was likely to be affected by the poor voter turnout.
National Assembly speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Prime Cabinet Secretary are backing David Wafula Wakoli of Ford-Kenya to retain the seat.
Ford-Kenya and Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress each have five MPs, same as Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K) and the senator by-election is an acid test to the two dominant parties in the region.
But the low voter turnout saw Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) polling clerks remain idle in most polling stations as voter trickled in cast their ballots.
However there were no reported hitches during identification of voters using the biometric kits.
The IEBC County Returning officer Ms Grace Rono said 9,611 officials had been deployed to respective polling stations to oversee the voting exercise.
“The process started off smoothly and has been progressing well despite the slow voter turnout. We are hoping that the voter turnout will improve before close of the polling stations at 5pm,” said Ms Rono.
At Ranje primary school polling station, which has 1,600 registered voters, less than 100 voters had turned up to vote by 10am.
Bungoma County has 646,612 registered voters in 1373 polling stations spread across the nine constituencies.
While decrying the low voter turnout, Azimio senate candidate Wafula Wamunyinyi said it was the democratic right of the voters to participate in choosing their next senator.
“What we are witnessing across all polling stations is low voter turnout but we hope that the number of voters will improve before close of voting,” said Mr Wamunyinyi.
The National Assembly speaker Moses Wetang’ula who cast his vote at 7am at Namakhele primary polling station in Kabuchai constituency expressed confidence that the turnout will be slightly over 50 per cent.
"Remember this is a senate by-election which different from the six positions in a General Election. There has been magnificent spirited campaigns and the level of preparations will determine the level of turnout," said Mr Wetang’ula.
He urged voters to turn up in large numbers and exercise their democratic right to elect a senator who will succeed him.
"I have made calls to almost every ward and constituency as early as 5am and I am confident the voters will turn up as the day progress," added Mr Wetang’ula.
Kabuchai Member of Parliament Majimbo Kalasinga who voted at Sikusi polling station expressed satisfaction with preparedness by the IEBC and security team to handle the by-election.
"This is an important exercise to voters after every five years. Let them turn up in large numbers and elect a senator of their choice," said Mr Kalasinga.
But a spot check in several polling station indicated the by –election had been hit by poor voter turnout as the three main contestants - Mwambu Mabonga (UDA), Wafula Wamunyinyi (Azimio) and Wakoli Wafula ( Ford -Kenya) square it out to replace Mr Watangula after he was elected Speaker of National Assembly.
Mr Wakoli who cast his vote at Musikomo primary school polling station accompanied by Kanduyi lawmaker John Makali said it was civic duty for the electorate to turn up and cast their votes.
“Despite the low turnout, we hope the outcome of the polls will be free and fair,” said Mr Wafula.
Ford Kenya has put a spirited fight to retain the seat that was held by Mr Wetang’ula before he was elected the National Assembly speaker.
The UDA candidate Mwambu Mabongo cast his vote at Muyenga primary school polling station at 6.30 am.
“This by-election will be determined by the issue of the candidate who has demonstrated that he can sure that resources that are allocated to the county government are managed properly,” said Mr Mabonga.
He said as UDA candidate, he was better placed to oversight the county government and ensure that the pledges made by the Kenya Kwanza administration to the people of Bungoma are fulfilled and expressed that he will clinch the seat.
There are 11 candidates battling to replace Mr Wetang’ula although the contest has been reduced to three horse race pitting Azimio, Ford-Kenya and UDA.
Others in the race are Elijah Barasa (Empowerment Party), Fredrick Busolo (Vibrant Democratic Party), Aaaron Anjala (Republican Party), Geoffrey Baraza(Nopeu) and Robert Sifuna ( Roots Party of Kenya).
Independent candidates are Enock Makokha, Julius Masinde and Munoko Raidon.
