High voter turnout on Kenya-Uganda border areas in Kacheliba, Pokot South MP races
Voting went on smoothly in the Pokot South and Kacheliba parliamentary seat elections on Monday, despite low voter turnout for most of the day at several polling stations.
Interestingly, in Kacheliba, polling centres along the Kenya-Uganda border saw a large voter turnout unlike other areas across Kacheliba constituency.
At the Kacheliba Mixed Primary School centre, which has 1,611 registered voters, for instance, by 12pm, less than 40 percent of the voters had been captured as having voted.
But at the Orolwo Primary polling station, which has 1,596 registered voters and is barely two kilometres from the Kenya-Uganda border, by noon over 55 percent of the voters had cast their ballots.
60 percent by noon
The same was true of Shongen Primary, which is less than a kilometre from the border. The polling centre has 456 registered voters and by noon, 60 percent had been captured by the Kiems kit.
Because of the area’s geographical location, many voters apparently hold dual citizenship and during voting, they are ferried to polling centres to vote. This is a cycle that politicians from both sides exploit each time there is an election.
Mr Benson Lingakin, from Karita village in Uganda, is a boda boda operator but he was in Shongen to vote.
“I moved to Uganda six years ago mainly to start the boda boda business. But I settled there because I found the cost of living relatively low compared to Kenya,” he said.
He has the national identity cards of the two countries and votes in both.
“I am a Kenyan and since I have settled among my Pokot community in Uganda, I come back home to vote. I am also a registered voter in Uganda,” he said.
Like Lingakin, Mr Loremoi Ngapilo, a herder in Uganda, was also in Kenya on Monday to vote.
“There are thousands of Pokots living in Uganda herding livestock, while others operate businesses. But we have all come to vote because we are registered Kenyan voters,” he said.
Vote counting about to begin at Kacheliba Mixed Primary School polling station where voting closed at 5pm as in other polling stations across Kacheliba constituency on August 29, 2022.
More than 80 percent projected
Ms Helen Cheruto, the IEBC presiding officer at Orolwo Primary, projected more than 80 percent voter turnout when voting closes at 5pm Monday.
“There is no way you can discern who is a Ugandan or a Kenyan voter. Our concern is whether they are eligible to vote. All those who voted have valid Kenya ID cards and are registered voters,” she explained.
She said voters from Uganda are always ferried in lorries to vote and then taken back.
Kacheliba Returning Officer Wilson Kipchumba said the ferrying of voters is not surprising because it is the norm in the region, and they consider themselves as one community.
“It usually catalyses voter turnout and it makes the region record high numbers. A majority of them are herders who migrate to Uganda in search of pasture and water,” he stated.
In Pokot South, three candidates are contesting the seat in four wards, with a total of 58,406 registered voters.
They are David Pkosing, defending the seat on a Kenya Union Party (KUP) ticket, Simon Kalekem of UDA and James Tekoo, an independent.
Snail pace
At the Koreliach and Chepkobhe polling stations in Chepareria ward, voters streamed in slowly.
Those who spoke to the Nation cited a heavy downpour that pounded the area on Sunday, making most roads impassable.
"Most people have not yet turned up to vote because of the pathetic roads in the area,” said Alice Cheyech.
Mr Pkosing, who cast his vote at 9.35am at the Chepkobhe Primary School polling station, put turnout in the area at 50 percent and was optimistic that more would turn up until the last minute.
He expressed confidence about retaining the seat, terming his closest competitor, Simon Kalekem (UDA), as a project of President-elect William Ruto.
He faulted the IEBC for postponing the election from August 9, claiming some people may have interfered with the election with an ill motive.
Independent candidate James Tekoo, who voted at the Koreliach Primary School polling station, said voting was going on smoothly.
But the elderly had challenges with Kiems kits, which could not read their fingerprints. BY DAILY NATION


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