Mombasa IEBC returning officer Swalha Yusuf was on Thursday morning forced to step in to resolve a stand-off in Nyali Constituency following the late arrival of ballot boxes.
Results from Maweni Mixed Secondary School polling station which had four stations arrived Wednesday around midnight at the constituency tallying centre at National Industrial Training Authority (Nita), Mombasa.
This raised uproar from the agents who questioned why they arrived late.
The agents said that the other three polling stations had submitted their results more than ten hours earlier.
The van carrying the materials was blocked as the agents protested, forcing police to intervene.
The presiding officer, his deputy and clerks were forced to stay in the car as they waited for the matter to be resolved.
"This station is submitting its results almost ten hours later, yet the other three submitted on time," said one of the agents.
The agents had also alleged that the presiding officer had denied them the chance to take photos of the ballot boxes and seals used.
"We only had two agents present to sign when these results were announced," said John Ole Taiswa, the Nyali returning officer.
It took the intervention of the county returning officer accompanied by Mombasa County commissioner John Otieno and the county police commander Steven Mattu to break the gridlock.
"The station had a high turnout of about 400 compared to the other three which registerd below 300 voters. That is why it took them long to finish," said Yusuf.
The county RO said that there was no need for alarm as the serial numbers of the ballot boxes and seals used all belong to the commission and matched the ones used to seal after counting was done.
"You have all seen the seals used are the same, no need to panic. Let us proceed to the next step which is verification of results to see if they match with the ones posted at the station," Yusuf said.
The constituency had 195 polling stations with a total of 124,253 registered voters.
The Nyali parliamentary seat is hotly contested between incumbent Mohammed Ali of UDA and Said Abdalla 'Saido' of ODM.
Tension had been brewing in the lead-up to the election in the area with supporters of the two main rivals clashing on several occasions, leaving scores injuered.
The race had attracted 8 candidates including Millicent Atieno Odhiambo (Wiper), Yassir Noor (Jubilee), Eric Gitonga (Independent), Joshua Ndere (Independent), Japheth Marine (Independent) and Ferdinand Katana of Kadu Asili.
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