KENYA: Prisoners allowed to vote for first time as Kenyans cast their ballots in referendum

Record ID: 361324

  • Title: KENYA: Prisoners allowed to vote for first time as Kenyans cast their ballots in referendum
  • Date: 5th August 2010
  • Summary: NAIVASHA, KENYA (AUGUST 4, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF NAIVASHA GK PRISON VARIOUS OF INMATES SQUATTING INMATE HOLDING VOTERS CARD VARIOUS OF INMATES VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) UNNAMED MALE INMATE, SAYING: "Therefore I am very happy even if I am in prison I have been able to vote, and to decide to develop my c
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEI5SJ1M3E251XE7WOGBGKUIFL
  • Story Text: Kenyans voted peacefully in a referendum on a new constitution on Wednesday (August 4), a poll that could reshape the politics of east Africa's largest economy after years of disputed, violent elections.
    The constitutional changes are seen as important to avoid a repeat of the post-election tribal bloodshed in early 2008 that killed 1,300 people and took the country of about 40 million people to the brink of anarchy.
    Retired president Daniel Arap Moi, who while in power frustrated efforts to change the constitution, is still a strong opponent of the new document. He cast his vote earlier in Kabarak constituency in the Rift Valley province.
    "I have exercised my right and I hope every vote will exercise his or hers and therefore we will see the result. to Kenyans, they should vote peacefully," Moi said.
    The new constitution will address the corruption, political patronage, land grabbing and tribalism which have plagued Kenya since it won independence in 1963. The changes allow for greater checks on presidential powers, more devolution to grassroots administrations and an increase in civil liberties.
    For the first time ever prison inmates were allowed to vote. In Naivasha maximum security prison 156 inmates including 53 who are serving life sentences cast their votes and expressed their gratitude for the opportunity.
    "Therefore I am very happy even if I am in prison I have been able to vote, and to decide to develop my country Kenya," said Joshua Kinyua, after casting his ballot.
    There were long queues at polling stations across the country, especially in the Rift Valley centres of Eldoret and Nakuru that were at the epicentre of the post-election violence.
    In the Maasai heartland of Kajiado, Maasai tribesmen turned out in their colourful outfits to cast their votes.
    Most Kenyans are expected to vote in favour of the new constitution, according to surveys. If the law fails, Kenya would revert to the current constitution bequeathed by former colonial power Britain.
    William Ruto, a cabinet minister based in the Rift Valley who is leading "No" campaigners angry with clauses related to land ownership, said he would accept the outcome.
    A previous attempt to change the constitution through a referendum in 2005 failed. To be adopted, the law requires 50 percent plus one vote of the ballot cast nationally and at least 25 percent of the votes in five of Kenya's eight provinces.
    After nine hours of voting, no major incidents had been reported at Kenya's 27,689 polling stations dotted across 210 constituencies in a country of nearly 40 million people.
    Officials from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) which is overseeing the elections said polling had gone well across the country and results were expected very soon after closing of polls at 5pm local (1400 GMT).
    "We expect the results to trickle in earlier, so I think by 7 - 7:30 from especially the voting stations that are closer to the national tallying centre, we expect that at least by 7:30 we shall have some results, hitting our screens in the national tallying centre," Tiyah Galgado said.
    Kenya, a country that borders Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, is the fourth largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa, Nigeria and Angola.
    Throughout the capital Nairobi, long queues snaked away from polling stations as voting kicked off at 6 a.m.
    At the sprawling Kibera slum in Nairobi, another hotspot of post-election violence, voting was peaceful three hours after stations opened. There were long lines with many elderly women being helped by officials to the front of the queues.
    In Eldoret and Nakuru, some voters said they hoped the referendum would usher in a new era of peaceful democracy and pledged an end to violence between Kikuyu and Kalenjin -- the two tribes that have dominated politics since independence.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register