NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 – Incumbent Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi is confident of victory despite a long delay that saw him wait for slightly over three hours at the Kenya Technical Teachers College (KTTC) in Gigiri to cast his vote.
Voting started at almost 9:30am in one of the streams where Wanyonyi was lined up to vote after the KIEMS kit used failed to configure in time, with irate voters calling on the poll officials to go manual instead.
“Three hours waiting, I think we can do better than that. Luckily, the voting has started and we have talked to IEBC. They have said they will extend the time. All the time lost will be compensated. We are hoping that by that time people will be on queues. It has been really tough especially for those who came here earlier than me. It’s a bit worrying,” Wanyonyi said.
Presiding Officer Edwin Orina speaking to Capital Newsbeat said they have taken the three-hour delay into consideration and anyone on the queue after 6pm will be allowed to vote.
“We have a small delay because we had to distribute the polling materials to very many stations from yesterday and it extended all the way to the morning beyond the starting time. But as per law, we will extend,” Orina said.
On the KIEMS kit issue he said; “Before the kit opens it takes some time and at some point it took time to load. We have to run the diagnostics and make sure everything is running and it took some bit of time. We have resolved that because we have a good ICT team in place to solve any issues.”
The delay was hugely protested by voters who were standing on the queue some from as early as 6am. “Do you want me to bring you my iPad. This is very wrong. We have been here from morning and you have not told us anything!” one of the irate votes said.
But, the issue was resolved and at around 9:30am, Wanyonyi was first to cast his ballot.
The Incumbent remains confident he will be given another five-year term by the Westlands electorate.
“I am quite confident and we are also hopeful that IEBC will carry out a fair and credible process for all of us. The way I see the process is peaceful and looks orderly I am hoping like this all around. I want to urge everyone to come out and vote peacefully and as leaders we will respect the will of the people,” said Wanyonyi.
Among those seeking to unseat Wanyonyi include former Law Society of Kenya president Nelson Havi who is vying on a UDA ticket.
