The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– A quiet vote –
Despite reports of some technical glitches and delays, Tuesday’s vote went off peacefully, and the IEBC moved quickly to deal with any complaints.
A clerk in a polling station where ballot papers were pre-marked as “rejected,” was fired, and police arrested another clerk in the port city Mombasa who was caught issuing double ballot papers to certain voters.
There was nothing that could be done about the weather in semi-arid northwest Turkana, where flooding from heavy rain cut off roads and several polling stations had still not opened by closing time.
Despite that, IEBC chief Wafula Chebukati said voting had gone “smoothly” despite minor delays and technical hiccups at some polling stations.
Shortly before polls closed, NASA put out a statement praising poll officials and security forces, but complained that some of its voters had been turned away.
LIVE: Kenya election results #ElectionsKE from @IEBCKenya https://t.co/CcCnEyiSPQ pic.twitter.com/QbsJBwz6i1
— The Independent (@UGIndependent) August 8, 2017
– The will of the people –
Tuesday’s general election was the first test of a new, complex election protocol that resulted from the devolution of power to Kenya’s 47 counties after a post-conflict constitutional reform.
The presidential election is set to be the final showdown of a dynastic rivalry that has lasted more than half a century since the candidates’ fathers Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Odinga went from allies in the struggle for independence to bitter rivals.
The men belong to two of Kenya’s main ethnic groups, Kenyatta from the Kikuyu, the largest, and Odinga from the Luo.
Both have secured formidable alliances with other influential communities in Kenya, where voting takes place largely along tribal lines.
Kenyatta, 55, is seeking re-election after a first term in which he oversaw a massive infrastructure drive and steady economic growth of more than five percent.
But he has been criticised for soaring food prices — with prices jumping 20 percent year-on-year in May — and massive corruption scandals on his watch.
On Tuesday, Kenyatta urged Odinga to accept the result should he lose.
“I also want to say that if I lose, I will accept the will of the people,” Kenyatta said after voting.
