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Monday, August 7, 2017

Busia very peaceful, not a poll chaos hot spot - security boss

Busia is very peaceful and Tuesday's election will not be an exception, county commissioner Michael ole Tialal has said.

Tialal rubbished reports by a consortium of constitutional commissions that the county is a hot spot.

“We are not foresseing problems but are prepared for any eventuality. Each polling station has extra police officers to respond to emergencies in case of any,” he said.

The commissioner further told journalists on Monday morning that security officers will work round the clock before and after the people vote.

“Our motto is 'No intimidation or disturbance'. We hope things will run smoothly. Our security officers will remain firm and unbiased. All candidates will be treated equally.”

He thanked residents for keeping peace during campaigns.

In April, the electoral agency identified more than 10 counties as violence hot spots.

The 'problematic' counties were listed as Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Narok, Kericho, Kisii, Homabay, Isiolo, Turkana, Bungoma, Kiambu, Kilifi, Lamu, Migori, Baringo and Pokot.

More on this: [VIDEO] NCIC identifies 19 counties at risk of violence in 2017

Also read: Likoni, Kisauni likely post-poll chaos hotspots - NIS

Concerns about Busia's security arose after two politicians attended a meeting with the commissioner and his team at his office in Busia town.

Senator Amos Wako and governor candidate Paul Otuoma (Funyula) requested the meeting on Monday to discuss security.

Tialal said this is all they talked about and that no complaints were raised.

“The two leaders were briefed by the County Security Committee on how fully prepared we are...it is all systems go."

County Elections Manager Fredrick Apopa asked residents to vote early.

“We want a good voting experience...all election material will be deployed to polling stations this evening," Apopa said.

He added they will turn to the manual voter identification system should the electronic one fail.

The county has 762 polling stations.


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