Chaos, confusion rock ANC primaries

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Police officers guard ballot boxes at Muliro Garden in Kakamega town during the Amani National Congress nomination process on April 20, 2022. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Chaos and confusion marred Amani National Congress (ANC) primaries in Kakamega yesterday.

Voting failed to take off in some centres with supporters of different aspirants protesting ‘unwarranted’ delays.

It took the intervention of the police to restore calm in some centres where rowdy ANC members threatened to disrupt the voting exercise. 

At least five people were arrested in Kakamega town and Ikolomani during the chaotic exercise. Angry supporters of Sheywe Ward aspirant Moses Musundi stormed the polling centre and vowed to ensure voting ends. 

"We have seen someone distributing the voting materials, some of which are marked," said Musundi, adding that one of the MCAs was distributing voting materials including those that were not supplied by the party election board..

"This is a rigged exercise. We call upon our party leader Musalia Mudavadi to cancel the nominations and set a fresh date. The collection and distribution of voting materials is supposed to be done by party agents not an aspirant as we have witnessed.”

Some voters claimed that they were not allowed to vote using ANC membership cards as earlier planned and only those whose names appeared in the party register were allowed.