Polling stations open with huge turnout in Mt Kenya region, little activity in Nyanza and parts of Western Kenya
A slow start has been reported in most polling centres in the country as voting has started in the repeat presidential election.Majority of National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters have obeyed Raila Odinga’s order and boycotted the poll in Siaya, Migori and Kibra while Uhuru Kenyatta's supporters have flocked to the poling stations.Queues snaked through estates and stretched to roads last month but today, many were deserted.Residents in Jubilee Party strongholds woke up early on Thursday to vote for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the race overshadowed by a NASA boycottThey were pictured queuing despite the chill, dressed in warm clothes and carrying umbrellas.IEBC officials said the people started arriving as early as 5am.With heavy security presence, the voters said they were happy to exercise their constitutional rights.
In Kirinyaga county, residents lined up at Kagumo Health Centre where the turn out was high despite morning showers.There was no activity in Kisumu when voting began on Thursday as residents kept off polling centres while IEBC officials could not be seen.Polling stations that were meant to open at dawn stayed firmly shut and election officials were nowhere to be found.Staunch NASA supporters issued threats, one of the reasons why members of the public kept off.Kisumu Central returning officer John Ngutai said only three of his 400 staff had shown up for work and there was no security to deliver ballot boxes.A decade after 1,200 people were killed over another disputed election, many Kenyans are braced for trouble although Raila backed off previous calls for protests and urged his supporters to stay out of the way of police.