Preparations for Tuesday’s General Election in Malindi Constituency were concluded, with the arrival of election materials and the Administration of Oath on more than 1,000 Polling Clerks.
Constituency Returning Officer, Mwanajuma Ali, told journalists at the Barani Secondary School, which is the Constituency Tallying Centre, that all ballot boxes, ballot papers and other materials had been received and securely stored at the tallying centre.
She said the 166 Polling Centres and the Tallying Centre would be manned by more than 1,800 officials, including 352 police officers, 332 presiding officers and over 1,000 clerks and an unspecified number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) officers.
Malindi Deputy County Commissioner, Thuo wa Ngugi, confirmed that the Sub-County Security Committee, was ready for the elections, adding that enough police officers had been deployed to provide security in and outside the police centres.
“We have enough officers; I have a team of 400 officers including 40 General Service Unit (GSU) officers. Each of the polling stations will be manned by two police officers, so we don’t expect any trouble,” he said.
However, the Deputy County Commissioner said the Security Committee was on high alert, in case of any disruption of security and peace and warned politicians and their supporters against causing undue disruptions during the crucial national exercise.
“We are warning those who will want to cause chaos that we are ready for them and we shall deal with them in accordance with the law,” he said.
At the same time, Ngugi urged voters to vote in their preferred candidate and wait for the announcement of the results at home.
By Emmanuel Masha
