UDA primaries: Shock as ballot papers arrive in Embu polling station at 5:00 pm

Residents in Embu county have expressed their dissatisfaction after UDA nominated materials arrived at their polling stations very late.

According to the party, the polling stations were to be opened at 7:00 am in the morning and closed at 5:00 pm in the evening after voting.

But surprisingly, the voters who had arrived at some polling stations as early as 6:00 am in the morning were forced to wait until evening when voting materials started arriving.

For instance, in Mutugu Primary school which is in Mbeti South, ballot papers arrived at 5:00 pm.

Josphat Muriuki, a voter, said that he arrived at the polling station very early in the morning but he was surprised when he found the place deserted with no voting materials.

“I have wasted the whole day. Imagine coming here at 6:00 am and I’m still here at this time (6:00 pm) and I’ve not voted. This is not good at all,” Muriuki said.

Mary Kagendo who is also a voter at the same polling station said she had closed her business to vote and but it was all in vain.

“Does it mean the party did not have enough resources to conduct these nominations? Why have we been kept here for this long?” Kagendo questioned.

Mbeti South MCA aspirant Njeru Peter Mureithi said that it was disheartening that the ballot arrived very late.

While expressing fears that the election might not be free and fair, Mureithi also observed that even after voting, there was nothing that separates those who have voted from those who had not.

Mbeere South Member of Parliament Geoffrey King’ang’i while addressing the press at Rwika tallying centre urged the UDA party to extend the voting time in order to compensate for the lost hours.

King’ang’i attributed the delay to transportation logistics occasioned by a lack of adequate vehicles to ferry election materials.