NAKURU, Kenya, Mar 4 – Security takes precedence as Nakuru residents take to the polls.
Echoing Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Nakuru police chief Bernard Kioko has assured residents of their safety saying additional forces have been deployed to violence prone areas.
“We have deployed 700 officers particularly to address the security of the IEBC officials and their materials. The hotspots in Nakuru, that is the Free Area, Kaptembwa and Ponda Mali, we have deployed special forces from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit.”
Nakuru County Returning Officer Catherine Kiarie concurred with the area OCPD saying the county tallying centre located in a Nakuru Municipal Council hall will be well guarded throughout the vote tally exercise.
“We have 20 security officers for this tallying centre and they will be manning the area night and day.”
Persons displaced following the last general election and now residing in camps in Nakuru have also expressed confidence that the polls will be carried out peacefully and the violence that followed the last general election will not recur.
“We have learnt from the violence that followed the last general election,” Virginia Githinji, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), said.
The youth in Nakuru have also refuted claims that they armed themselves ahead of the elections saying they will not engage in violent conduct when the results start being released.
“We have not readied ourselves with cutlets or anything like that. We will not instigate riots. There will be no violence, only peace,” Samuel Cambodia told Capital FM News.