Uchaguzi 2022: SitRoom Report #2

This situation room report is based on data received from https://uchaguzi.or.ke as of 9th August, 2022 15:00h. Uchaguzi situation room reports will be shared on a regular basis during election week. 

The focus of the East African community and the world at large is on Kenya as citizens line up to elect the next political representatives. Polling stations saw voters turning up as early as 3am, with most  stations opening by 6:00 am.

Photo credit: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP - Source: dw.com

Kenyans turned to social media and our SMS and USSD platforms to share their experiences and observations in their areas and voting centres.

Voting Issues

There were early reports of members of the public not being able to cast their ballots due to the failure of the IEBC KIEMS kits. Voters were turned away in various stations when their fingerprints couldn’t be verified. The Court of Appeal ruled that the manual registers could be used in the event that the kits failed, but these registers were unavailable in many stations. The failure of the kits was reported in:

• Indangalasia Primary School in Matungu
• Polling stations in Malava
• Kaguria polling Station, South Kabuoch/Pala Ndhiwa
• Makadara, Hamza Ward
• Pumwani Social Hall Stream 2
• Arap Moi Primary School Polling station No.1, Olkeri Ward, Kajiado North Constituency

Most stations across the country noted low voter turnout.

There were also reports of politicians and election officials allegedly attempting to corrupt the voting process.

• An IEBC clerk in Gatina Primary polling station, Dagoretti North constituency allegedly issued  four MP ballot papers to one voter.
• UDA Mvita National Assembly aspirant Omar Shallo & Samir Ballo, an MCA aspirant Tudor Ward were taken to  Makupa Police Station after they were allegedly found trying to rig elections.
• There were allegations of rigging in Embu and incitement by one of the candidates.

Juliana Cherera, the IEBC Vice Chairperson reported that there was a road accident involving a preceding officer and two clerks in Turkana Central Constituency. The officials were replaced to allow them to recover.

Security Reports

There were reports of security lapses in some areas that ranged from muggings to attacks on police and election officials.

• A voter cited insecurity in Kibera in the early morning hours. This deterred citizens from going to the polling stations early.
• There were reports of gunshots at the Eldas Constituency Development Fund tallying center.
• The Bumula constituency, Bungoma County UDA candidate reportedly shot at the opposing candidate Jack Wamboka and injured 4 of his team members.
• Bullets were exchanged between the police and unknown assailants in Wajir at the Eldas CDF office where ballot papers are being held.

USSD Survey results

A survey was conducted on USSD using the Ushahidi deployment to get an insight of voting patterns among Kenyan citizens. The reports were collected from 30 counties, and here’s a breakdown:

 

Share your Uchaguzi reports with us!

For those in Kenya, please share any concerns you notice via the following channels:-
1. Toll Free SMS: 23102
2. USSD: *603#
3. Whatsapp: +254 790 573949

or visit https://uchaguzi.or.ke to submit a report via web.