Many polling centres in Nyeri County have marked a low voter turnout, unlike in the past general elections.
This has been attributed to chilly weather in most parts of the county and also poor leadership in the past, thus making the voters stay away from the polling stations.
According to IEBC Commissioner Francis Wanderi, the low turnout is attributed to poor leadership exhibited in the past hence many voters chose to stay away.
“It’s true that turnout has been low in many parts of the country however we are urging many to come out and vote so that they can exercise their constitutional l right,” Wanderi said.
Wanderi said many elderly people have been assisted to vote after failing to be identified through biometric
Kieni Member of Parliament Kanini Kega said the cold weather made people to abstain from voting especially the elderly.
Kanini, who cast his vote at Kahuho Primary School in Kieni, has also attributed the low turnout to the fact that the region does not have a presidential candidate.
“Since 1992, Mt Kenya region has always produced a presidential candidate and that is the reason why the people of this region come out in large numbers. Having no candidate coming from the region can also be blamed for the low turnout,” he said.
Kanini at the same has criticized the IEBC over the missing of some ballot papers of various posts saying that they should have verified to ensure everything was in place through the department of quality control.
“There is no way you can import ballot boxes and ballot papers from whichever country, you have a department of quality control and when you are opening the papers on the day you find that some materials are missing. You can only have yourself to blame,” Kanini said.
In Mukurwe-ini, UDA Parliamentary candidate John Kaguchia said despite the low voter turnout the process was going on smoothly, and he was optimistic that voters would come out to vote once the weather improved.
He however said some voters who are mostly the elderly could not have their fingerprints verified by the biometric and some had to be sent away.
“The process started off well although the turnout is very low and some elderly people are being turned away as the biometric could not recognize their fingerprints,” Kaguchia said.
Gubernatorial candidate Thuo Mathenge who voted at Kahiga Primary school in Nyeri town Constituency urged voters to uphold peace during and after elections.
