Our neighborhood is very quiet. The polling was extended last night to allow anyone in the polling station at 5pm to vote. Bangala finished voting at 9pm by gas lights. People waited for hours in the scorching sun...this one of the hottest months in Mombasa. Sr. Pauline left her house at 5:45am and didn't get home until 3pm. There were problems with electronic voting as some places the batteries ran out and if the station didn't have power and a cord to hook up to it they had to use manual procedures. Women with babies were allowed to move up in line but when some women started 'borrowing' babies to take advantage of the perk the officials required the women to breast feed their baby.
The trouble in Mombasa on Sunday night was a very serious coordinated attack in three places (Likoni, Miritini and Kilifi) to disrupt the voting process. The Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) has been accused of trying to stop people from voting. They want the coast to secede from Kenya. There was a huge number of people (hundreds) who overwhelmed the police who were trying to distribute voting material the night before the elections. Some very senior police officials were killed. We know a woman who lives in Miritini and she heard the shooting at night time. But she got up at 5am to vote and her home has been peaceful since then.
I am so impressed with the committment and peacefulness of the people who voted. The questions now are two:
1. Will someone win in the first round of voting?
2. If someone wins will it be accepted peacefully?
Judy and I are at home today and Coralis is in the clinic at Kikambala. We are all fine.
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