All is set for the Kakamega gubernatorial election as residents finally have a chance to elect their governor after the poll was canceled twice.
Over 800, 000 voters will make a choice from the seven candidates who have presented themselves.
The candidates are Cleoohas Malala (ANC), Fernandes Barasa (ODM), Cyrus Jirongo (UDP), Samuel Omukoko (MDP), Suleiman Sumba (KANU) and independents Michael Osundwa and Optiso Otieno.
Candidates concluded their official campaigns on Saturday in readiness to square it off with each other. Malala and Barasa conducted high octane campaigns in choppers backed by senior party leaders.
The campaigns revolved around which side is in government, with ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi asking voters to elect a governor from President-elect Dr William Ruto's camp, while ODM leader Raila Odinga urged voters to elect Barasa because Azimio's petition challenging Ruto's election will overturn his victory in their favour.
Both the Azimio One Kenya and Kenya Kwanza political groupings are competing for the control of Kakamega, the epicenter of Luhya politics.
The campaigns have been characterised by accusations and counter accusations as to who is courting the IEBC officials ahead of the polls.
To stem doubts among the candidates, IEBC has reshuffled presiding officers and dropped others to ensure a level playing ground for all candidates.
“We have reshuffled presiding officers and even elevated some deputy presiding officers and some clerks. If candidates have been meeting them, it was not a wise investment,” said Kakamega returning officer Joseph Ayata.
He said that presiding officers will only know which polling centre they are being deployed to on dispatch on Sunday.
Ayata said that more than half of the presiding officers had been dropped for various reasons including poor performance and poor filling of statutory forms during the August 9 polls.
The election, together with that of Mombasa governor, four parliamentary seats and MCA were postponed from August 9 by the electoral agency following anomalies in ballot printing.
The polls were later set for August 23 before being cancelled indefinitely, forcing candidates and civil society to file a flurry of constitutional petitions to compel IEBC to hold the elections.
The commission agreed with candidates on Moday’s date during a consultative meeting held at Bomas of Kenya on Monday, preempting the court cases.
Edited by Henry Makori
