Tag: Contextualizer

These logs were done on 10 August 2022, the day after voting, covering four of the 17 Nairobi constituencies: Dagoretti South, Westlands, Ruaraka and Kasarani.  

I made these logs on Wednesday 10 August 2022, the day after the general election, while monitoring the status of tallying in seven constituency tallying centers across Nairobi County. The following were my observations throughout the day:

Wednesday, 10 August 2022. It was the morning after the general election and tallying was ongoing at the constituency tallying centers across the country. I visited Kajiado North, Langata and Kibra constituency tallying centers and captured the situation in each tallying center in the following logs: Kajiado North Constituency. 0930 hrs: I arrive at Oloolaiser…

0645 hrs: the streets of Karen look abandoned. Roads are quiet and deserted with one or two matatus and tuk-tuks seen. As I approach Karen C polling station, many cars are parked on the roadside beside the school.  0719 hrs: there are barely people at the polling station. Those here are orderly and quiet. Policemen…

0650 hrs: I’m at St. Teresa’s Girls’ High School in the Mathare Constituency of Nairobi County. The polling station is roaring with life. A big confusion looms. People are confused as to how to identify their voting booths.  There is a huge crowd finger-tracing their names at the list outside the gate. Most complain their…

0420 hrs: I wake up to what seems a normal day. As I prepare to leave, I notice the absence of Matatu horns that usually go off in the distant Ngong around this time. Perhaps it’s because it’s a not just an elections day but it’s also a public holiday.  The silence though is frequently…

0558hrs. In the horizon I can hear boda boda guys urging a sleepy town to wake up and go vote. I am on Wanyee Rd, heading to Toi Primary School, just off Ngong Rd, one of the main arteries that feed the heart of Nairobi CBD.  Ngong Rd hardly ever slept but then again Ngong…

For three elections – the fresh presidential election on 26 October 2017 included – I have worked with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission as an electoral official, first as a Biometric Voter Registration clerk in the first ever electronic voter registration in 2012, and as a polling clerk in 2013 and 2017. In 2022,…

At 49.12% of the registered voters, women make up almost half of the electorate, and thus any serious political contender must go the extra mile in seeking to appease such a significant national constituency.