- Wajackoyah said the system targeted his stronghold in Western where Kiems kits failure was widespread.
- Wajackoyah arrived at the station at 10am but could not cast his vote because the KIEMS kit in the stream he was to vote in failed.
Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah finally cast his vote at 1.30pm Tuesday after being identified manually, despite his earlier claims of being rigged out over Kiems kit failure.
Wajackoyah had earlier claimed the system was rigging him out of the presidential race.
He said the system targeted his stronghold in Western, where Kiems kits failure was widespread, and that he had not voted because of the failure.
“They started showing that I was at 15 per cent, they moved to seven, then moved five and finally two per cent and now they stop me from voting,” he said.
“They are rigging me out because they know I’d win this race,” he said.
“If they want to bring in lame duck president let them do it. We’ll have alternatives. The president will take responsibility for this, if he is the one rigging so that Raila Odinga can win,” he told journalists at his residence.
Wajackoyah arrived at the station at 10am but could not vote because the Kiems kit in the stream he was to vote in failed.
He left in a huff and returned at 12:20pm and could not vote again.
An angry Wajackoyah dressed down the returning officer before addressing supporters inside the polling station.
He said this was the first election in which a presidential candidate had not voted. He said no one had called him to explain the hiccups in the voting, especially in Western.
The presidential hopeful said his elderly supporters had been disenfranchised and had left for their homes.
“I am holding President Uhuru Kenyatta responsible for this. Why didn’t the commission test the kits before bringing them here. Who is rigging this election and for what purpose? he posed, adding,"I was sure of taking this seat but now it has been curtailed by this rigging."
"I can’t blame the officers in the polling stations because they are junior officers and can’t make decisions."
"They are saying they will revert to manual but who will vote when the people will have gone home. They wanted me to join them by force but I declined and this is the only way they are disenfranchising me."
He accused the Court of Appeal of colluding with IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati to stop use of manual register as alternative voting mechanism.
Failure of Kiems kits was reported across Kakamega county. The problem was reported at Namulungu, Mirere and Namanga and Khalaba in Matungu and Museno polling centres where voting delayed for over six hours.
Anxious voters engaged the election officials in bitter exchanges, claiming it was part of the rigging plans.
Kakamega county returning officer Joseph Ayata said the commission’s technical team was working to resolve the kits failure.
He said the issue was technical and had nothing to do with manipulation of the process.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala said the commission should extend voting period for the affected polling stations.
“We are urging supporters to remain calm as the issues are addressed,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara