Elections
Grass root elections for the UDA party in Homa Bay county were conducted peacefully on Sunday albeit with the main challenge being that some candidates’ names were missing from the vote register.
At Sero Primary School in Homa Bay constituency, some candidates did not find their names in the digital voting machine with a similar hiccup also being experienced in Asumbi Primary School in Rangwe constituency.
Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero who is part of the team coordinating the election said mechanisms have been put in place to address the challenges. Dr Kidero who voted at Asumbi Primary School, said they had agreed with the Returning and Presiding officers to use both digital and manual voting.
“We have realised a few hitches in which some candidates who registered to vie for some positions have not found their names in the voting machine. We have agreed with the officials manning the elections to introduce the hybrid voting method,” Dr Kidero said.
He said their aim was to ensure all the candidates get the opportunity to vie for election. “We want everybody who is vying for any seat to get their right of being elected,” Kidero said. Former Rangwe constituency Member of Parliament Martin Ogindo assured residents that the will of the people will prevail in election of the party officials.
Thomas Odoyo who was vying for the secretary’s post did not find his name on the digital ballot machine. Ogindo who was coordinating elections in the area assured him and other candidates with similar cases that their issues were being resolved.
“We are communicating with the party elections board and the elections dispute resolution committee to ensure every candidate gets their right in this election,” said Ogindo. He told their opponents to accept that UDA is gaining rapid popularity in Homa Bay County and embrace multi-party democracy.
The election was conducted at the ward level in which each of the 40 wards in Homa Bay got 20 officials. This gives a total of 800 officials who were elected in the county.