The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has resumed vote tallying for Juja Member of Parliament by-election at Mang’u High School hours after it halted it due to chaos.
IEBC had suspended the tallying process after a group of individuals led by the Kiambu County Governor James Nyoro caused a disruption of the tallying process at Mang’u High School tallying centre.
The tallying was resumed following a visit to the polling station by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati today morning.
Chebukati met with the County Election Manager, the Returning Officer, and the county security team, during which he revealed that four polling stations had witnessed attempted malpractice.
According to the IEBC Chairman, by the time the chaos broke out, the staff had finished tallying the votes and had completed the required Form 35A, which had also been properly signed.
“There were incidents in four polling stations where there was an attempt to interfere with the process, by the time the mayhem broke, the staff had finished tallying the votes and had filled and signed Form 35A,” Chebukati said.
He added that action will be taken against the perpetrators of chaos witnessed at Mang’u tallying center in the Juja by-election.
“IEBC takes election process seriously and we hope the perpetrators who attempted to disrupt the lawfully process of the people of Juja electing a leader of their choice will be brought to book,” he said
In a statement, IEBC described the act as hooliganism which made it impossible for the tallying process to proceed.
“In order to ensure the safety of our staff, the election materials and to preserve the integrity of the election process. The commission hereby suspends the tallying process and announcement of results until normalcy is fully restored,” read part of the statement.
The commission secured the election materials and results which were brought in by the presiding officer.
The commission urged the candidates to keep vigil until the exercise resumes.
“The commission regrets the developments as maintenance of law and order during elections is not its mandate,” regretted IEBC.
The group were protesting stolen votes in the just concluded Juja by-election.
Normalcy resumed after Kiambu County Commander Ali Nuno ordered police to kick out the politicians and their agents out of the venue.