Residents of Rongai constituency have taken to the streets to protest the suspension of voting for the parliamentary seat.
Voters who turned up as early as 5am expressed disappointment after they learnt that ballot boxes and papers for the parliamentary seat were unavailable.
Rongai MP (incumbent) Raymond Moi while addressing the media at Mercy Njeri primary school said he was surprised at the turn of events and called on IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati to act fast and ensure that Rongai voters are given a chance to elect their preferred Member of Parliament.
While stating that he was not going to participate in a flawed exercise, Mr Raymond at the same time expressed concern over the incident saying that this was likely to affect the presidential vote as voters may not turn out in large numbers as they have today.
He called for calm from the residents as the matter was being sorted out by IEBC.
The Nakuru County IEBC Coordinator Dr Joseph Mele while calling for calm, declined to comment on the matter saying that the commission would issue a comprehensive statement on the same.
Meanwhile the exercise kicked off smoothly in most parts of the county with high voter turnout in most polling stations.
A spot check by KNA in polling stations at Old Town Hall, Railways, St Xaviers primary school, Menengai High school among others established that most voters had turned out in large numbers to cast their ballots.
Dr Mele had earlier indicated that apart from delays from a few polling stations, the exercise was going on smoothly and there was no cause for alarm.
“We have received reports from a section of our officers on the ground and escalated the same to our bosses at the headquarters and we will be able to get a way forward,’’ he said.
By Anne Mwale
