Low turn out mars by-elections in Kandara, Garissa Township

A spot check in most of the polling stations that opened at 6am in Garissa showed no queues with polling clerks idling as they waited for voters to come.

In Kandara, Murang'a county, a similar scenario of low turn out was witnessed with former MP and Water CS Alice Wahome appealing to  voters to cast their ballots before the exercise ended.

IEBC Garissa county returning officers Abdulwahab Hussein said there were no hitches and that the exercise was going on smoothly.

The constituency has 103 polling stations.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama voted as early as 8am at Yathrib Primary School.

Jama who has kept away from the campaigns by not coming out to support any of the candidates, urged locals to vote peacefully.

“I have performed my civic duty and voted earlier at the Yathrib Primary School. As we go out and cast our votes, I urge all to promote peace,” he said.

Speaking after voting at MTC, ODM candidate Abdifeisal Amin claimed his social media account had been hacked where it was reported that he had stepped down in favour of the UDM candidate Nasir Mohamed Dolal.

“I am here to notify my esteemed supporters and the larger Garissa voters about propaganda news published by my opponents. It is unfortunate for people to seek refuge in hacking accounts or creating false accounts because they can never trust their ability to win and are prone to fail time and again.”

He added, “Seeking sympathy votes or spreading falsehoods about opponents portrays the weaknesses of the individual candidate and  I advise the great people of Garissa not to trust such candidates and leadership styles.”

"I have to confirm to Garissa voters, I  did not step down for Jofle as alleged, and please disregard such false and propaganda information. I encourage my supporters to go to the polling station and keep on voting. I appreciate your voting for me and we will win Insha Allah,” he said.

Amin who exuded confidence of winning  urged the electorates seize the crucial moment to exercise their civic duty and come to vote.

“It has been a short journey but more demanding with individual and group campaigns for various candidates. It is my humble appeal to my supporters to come out and vote. It is my sincere prayer for a fair and free election,” he said.

Others in the race are Dekow Mohamed Barrow of UDA also popularly known as Major Dekow, Nassir Dolal alias Jofle, Ibrahim Malow (Narc Kenya), Abdifaisal Amin (ODM) and former Fafi MP Abdikarim Osman of Democratic Party.

Kenya Kwanza has Major Dekow of UDA, Abdikarim of Democratic Party (DP) and Nasir Dolal of UDM while Azimio has Muhiadin Abdirashid of DAP-Kenya, Ibrahim Malow of Narc-Kenya.

In Kandara, Wahome expressed concerns over the few number of voters turning up for the exercise.

“The flow is very, very slow. I have voted and I have taken less than two minutes to complete the exercise,” said the CS after voting at Muruka Primary School polling centre.

She called on voters to take advantage of the low numbers in polling station to cast their votes instead of waiting until late when they may be stuck in long queues.

She pleaded with locals to ensure they vote for their preferred candidate saying it is their constitutional duty.

“This is a by-election and we know by-elections normally have challenges, but considering we need to replace the MP who is me, having left the seat, I would want a good turn-out.”

“My appeal to the people of Kandara is to take their voting responsibility very seriously,” she said.

The CS said there have been a lot of mobilisation in the constituency, and expressed confidence that the numbers will increase as time goes.

She noted that her expectation was to find many voters queuing and that she was surprised to find no queue at all at her polling centre.

“This is an opportunity to decide who will be the next MP for Kandara constituency. It is not okay to stay at home or wait until later in day when queues will be longer," she said.

Wahome, however, lauded IEBC for undertaking a well-organised exercise.