Polls open in Kenya as millions head to voting centres

Polls opened at 6 am local time across Kenya as millions of Kenyans found way to over 45,000 polling centres countrywide in a hotly contested election that will see the East African country vote for president and five other seats at parliamentary and county level.

A spot check by Goobjoog News correspondent in Nairobi indicates queues started forming way before the polling stations opened at 6 am the official start-off time.

In the Somali populated areas of Eastleigh in Nairobi, voters could be seen lining up in various polling centres in what goes down as Kenya’s most expensive poll estimated to cost $5 billion and billed as the most costly exercise in the continent.

“Eastleigh residents woke up early to wait for the opening of polling stations.  The turn out is great and hopefully as the day goes by we will be able to see more people,” our correspondent said.

The incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta will be expected to vote in his constituency in Kiambu county some 30 km north of Nairobi while opposition candidate Raila Odinga will be casting his vote in Kibra constituency in Nairobi.