By midday on Tuesday, less than 30 per cent of the votes
cast had been counted in Siaya, Vihiga, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Busia
counties.
At Tom Mboya Hall, the Kisumu county Tallying centre, vote
tallying had not started by noon because ballot boxes had not been
delivered.
Vote counting started late in the county’s seven
constituencies but provisional results were not announced, causing more
worries among voters.
Kisumu County Returning Officer Dolly Akili blamed the delays on late closure of polling stations.
“We hope to have results for the county by late this
(Tuesday) evening, and I urge everyone to exercise patience as counting
continues,” she said.
A similar situation was experienced in Homa Bay, where vote counting dragged in all the county’s eight constituencies.
In Kisii , there was a standoff at Magena tallying centre
in Bomachoge Chache after a presiding officer dumped ballot boxes
outside the centre and disappeared.
The presiding officer for Senta went missing with forms for several hours, leaving the ballot boxes with security officers.
It took the intervention of Returning Officer Gilbert
Serem to trace the officer, who later emerged claiming he fainted while
on the way to the centre.
Consequently, opponents of one candidate, Mr Joel
Onyancha, disputed the results, claiming the officer’s disappearance was
a plot to rig the poll given that Senta was Mr Onyancha’s home turf.
Eastern Nyanza Elections Coordinator Mwaura Kamwati said
he had called agents of all aspirants assigned to Senta to verify the
results delivered by the officer.
“We want the agents of both aspirants to verify the
results and sign the forms before we can accept to announce the final
results,” he said.
