Raila Odinga’s preferred Homa Bay senatorial by-election candidate Moses Kajwang’ is the new senator for the Homa Bay County.
Moses Kajwang’ defeated his closest rival Philip Okundi of the Maendeleo Democratic Party by close to 100,000 votes. By 3am, Moses Kajwang’ had garnered 126,000 votes against Okundi’s 26,978 votes.
Moses Kajwang’ though, did not vote because he is registered as a voter in Ruaraka constituency in Nairobi County, but escorted his parents and other family members to cast their votes at Waondo Primary School in his Mbita constituency.
With the by-election victory by Moses kajwang; widely perceived as a personal victory and vindication of Raila odinga as the politacl dynamo in Nyanza region, the voter turnout was low at 50 per cent.
Coming a very distant third was Fred Rabongo of National Agenda Party followed by Benard Otieno of National Vision Party and independent candidates Hilary Ochieng, Onyango Alila, Edwin Matete, Medo Luke Misama and Innocent Otieno.
As the reality of the margin of Kajwang’s victory dawned, claims of voter bribery, ballot stuffing and harassment of agents flew in thick and fast, with the successor of the late Otieno Kajwang’s seat no longer in doubt.
Rival candidates traded accusations about the conduct of the polls that were marked by low voter turnout in the early hours. It was alleged that the Electronic Voter Identification Devices failed to function in some voting centres, forcing Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials to identify voters using the manual register.
All the 816 polling centres opened at 6am, but only a few voters trickled in. Despite the slow start, candidates turned up to vote in their respective polling stations.