Residents escort ballots boxes/SCREENGRAB
Hundreds of residents accompanied vehicles carrying ballot boxes and election results from polling stations across Ol Kalou Constituency to the constituency tallying centre at Ol Kalou Senior School after voting closed in Thursday's parliamentary by-election.
Police vehicles led and escorted the convoy transporting the ballot boxes, with heavily armed officers providing security throughout the journey to ensure the safe delivery of election materials.
At the AC Ol Kalou Polling Station, election officials sealed ballot boxes immediately after counting before loading them onto vehicles under the watch of party agents, observers and security officers.
The convoy, trailed by scores of residents on foot, motorcycles and private vehicles, made its way to the tallying centre where constituency officials began receiving results from the 114 polling stations.
The escort formed part of an elaborate security operation mounted by the National Police Service and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to safeguard the integrity of the by-election from voting through tallying and declaration of results.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja had announced the deployment of more than 1,000 police officers, including personnel from the General Service Unit (GSU), Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), to secure the exercise.
He said all 114 polling stations had a minimum of two police officers assigned to protect election materials, voters and IEBC officials, with additional rapid response teams deployed across the constituency.
"Our officers are deployed to safeguard the voting materials and the voting process while ensuring electoral officials perform their duties without interference," Kanja said ahead of the poll.
The police also deployed four water cannons and specialised units to respond to any security incidents during the exercise.
IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon said each presiding officer had been assigned two police officers responsible for maintaining law and order within a 400-square-metre radius around every polling station.
The commission urged voters to leave polling stations immediately after casting their ballots to allow election officials to conclude voting and counting without disruption.
By Thursday evening, IEBC had not declared the winner of the parliamentary by-election, although provisional results showed DCP candidate Waweru Douglas leading UDA's Samuel Muchina.
The by-election attracted heightened political interest, with senior leaders from both the ruling UDA and the opposition DCP pitching camp in the constituency during weeks of intense campaigns.
Despite isolated claims of violence and intimidation during the campaign period, voting, counting and the transportation of ballot boxes proceeded under heavy security as constituency officials commenced tallying results at Ol Kalou Senior School.
The IEBC is expected to declare the winner after verifying and tabulating results from all polling stations.
