By John Mutiso
Two rival goon groups clashed in Siakago town, which is being used as the Mbeere North constituency tallying centre, as the vote counting exercise goes on.
One goon group was seen wielding batons, adamant that they wouldn’t vacate the tallying centre until the election results are released, and they engaged the rival group, who were pelting stones at them.
It was a chaotic scene, with each group aiming to outdo the other, as police officers who were manning the constituency tallying centres, armed with guns, watched with little or no intervention.
One of the goon groups was firing gunshots in the air, instilling fear in the other group.
A few metres from the tallying centre, clouds of tear gas gathered as the rival groups continued to engage at a distance.
One Mbeere North resident who identified himself as John Arimi Thoini and was witnessing the chaos between the groups said that one group belonged to Mathira MP Erick Wamumbi.
He claimed that Wamumbi had been barred from entering the Siakago Social Hall, where vote counting was expected to commence, and after that, he arrived with goons who were accompanying him, which is how the clash began.
“Everything had been smooth, but after 5:00 pm when polling stations were closed, Erick Wamumbi attempted to enter, but voters refused. He left and returned with his goons and his security officers, all of whom had alighted from the same car,” he said.
Mbeere North has been tense since hours after voting kicked off. There have been violent scenes in the constituency in several areas.
The first violent scene involved the former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, who engaged in a physical altercation with one of the voters who appeared to have attempted to verbally engage him, forcing the intervention of his aides, who roughed the young voter up before releasing him later on.
This came shortly after Chinga Ward MCA was kicked out of the Siakago Social Hall polling centre after he presented himself to act as an agent for Leonard Wamuthende while donning United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party colours.
It has also not been well for politicians allied to the state. Public Service CAS Geoffrey Ruku, who has been campaigning for Leonard Wamuthende, was also roughed up by voters and blocked from entering the Kanyumbora polling station. Residents came out hurling shouts at him, forcing him to retreat from the polling station.
