NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9- More than 20 million Kenyans are on Tuesday expected to participate in the country’s General Election- to among other things elect the fifth President of the country.
This is after President Uhuru Kenyatta served the constitutional two terms.
To ensure there’s no breach of peace, the National Police Service has asked Kenyans to vote and return home.
There was a section of politicians who had asked their supporters to stay at the polling stations to ‘protect the votes’, which is illegal and a recipe for chaos.
“In today’s poll, after you have made your decision known at the ballot, we ask that you support our security efforts by waiting for the poll results in the comfort of your homes,” reads a statement by police.
The Hillary Mutyambai-led police service added that “we want to live in an orderly society that respects the rule of law, and one that is considerate to the wellbeing of its people.”
” But sometimes, some of us feel it is the responsibility of people other than ourselves, to remain orderly.”
Thousands of police officers have been deployed across the country, to ensure law and order are maintained.
More officers and specialized units have specifically been deployed in violence-prone areas, the government announced.
Those areas mapped out as hotspots include parts of Mombasa where there have been increased politically linked criminal gang activities and Rift Valley.
Eldoret, the hometown of Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate William Ruto has also had a scaled-up police presence.
Ruto is seeking to succeed President Kenyatta, whom he worked with as a Deputy President.
A bitter fallout between the two has seen President Kenyatta throw back his support behind his political nemesis cum buddy Raila Odinga.
The President mobilized his political machinery including his Cabinet Secretaries to campaign against his Deputy, who have accused him of betrayal.
Odinga is not new to presidential races as this would be his fifth time trying to lead East Africa’s wealthiest country.
The 77-year-old politician picked NARC Kenya party leader Martha Karua, a celebrated constitutional reformist as his running mate.
The Deputy President, now aged 55 years, picked a businessman cum politician Rigathi Gachagua.
Both Karua and Gachagua hail from the vote-rich Mount Kenya region, the backyard of President Kenyatta.
The President is also the chairperson of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance council, whose candidate is Odinga.
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