Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s ODM party was last night poised to retain the Malindi constituency parliamentary seat following a tense vote. ODM’s William Mtengo had opened a wide lead over his closest challenger, Jubilee Alliance Party’s Philip Charo.

With 73 of the 100 polling stations reporting, Mr Mtengo had polled 15,582 votes against Charo’s 9,243.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said half of the constituency’s 55,853 registered voters turned up to elect their representative to the National Assembly.

The outcome of the by-election, occasioned by the appointment to the Cabinet of ODM's Dan Kazungu, asserted the Opposition's dominance at the Coast, where President Uhuru Kenyatta lost to Raila in the 2013 presidential vote.

Earlier, gun drama, arrests and accusations of voter bribery marked the hotly contested by-election.

READ MORE

 How Oburu is driving Raila's dying party to its grave

 This man Oburu: Is he leading ODM into a freefall?

 Irony of spending billions in top seat campaigns to earn millions

 Joho uses Raila 'birthday' to boost political capital

Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir (right) and Embakassi MP Irshad Sumra (middle) argue with a senior Police officer outside Malindi Police station on March 7th 2016. The Police was trying to chase away the Politicians who had gone to ensure those arrested on bribery claims had been locked up. (PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/ STANDARD)

Three Jubilee MPs – Peter Gitau (Mwea), Ferdinand Waititu (Kabete) and Sharif Athman (Lamu East) – were roughed up by angry Opposition supporters who accused them of interfering with the polls.

Police even fired in the air to scare away a mob that was closing in on Lamu East MP Athman at Sir Ali Primary voting station in Shella Ward.

Apart from the physical confrontations, senior leaders of the ruling coalition and the Opposition engaged in bitter exchanges over the tense vote.

Independent election observers described voter turnout as impressive in spite of reports of voter intimidation and bribery.

The observer groups said the turnout could surpass the 50 per cent projected by the IEBC.

The electronic identification system failed in some polling centres, forcing the electoral agency's officials to resort to the manual system.

"The process started pretty well in the morning. The process, however, became very slow after the electronic identification system failed in some polling stations. IEBC must streamline its ICT system before the next General Election," said the Institute for Education and Democracy (IED) Deputy Chief Executive Herbert Mwachiro.

Earlier, Mtengo cast his vote at Msabaha polling centre in Ganda Ward, where he expressed confidence that he would emerge the victor.

"The process is okay but it is very slow. Many people have been on the queue since 6am and have not voted. I expect nothing but victory," said Mtengo.

He arrived at the polling station accompanied by CORD MPs Ababu Namwamba, Johnstone Muthama, Millie Odhiambo, Stewart Madzayo, Augustinho Neto and Mishi Mboko.

Charo voted at Maziwani Primary School in Ganda Ward at 9.30am.

"I have confidence that I will emerge the victor and I wish to request our people to remain calm and after the voting to return to their homes and wait for our victory. I have already begun talks with different stakeholders on the land problem affecting our people," said Charo.

He walked to the polling station accompanied by JAP supporters from his rural home, which was near the polling station.

Kadu Asili's Reuben Katana voted at Pendukiani Nursery School in Kakuyuni Ward.

The Labour Party of Kenya's candidate Attas Sharif Ali cast his vote at Uhuru Garden polling centre in Shella Ward.

"We have tried to explain to the people of Malindi what we represent and I know that they have heard all candidates and will not be swayed by external forces such as party politics and money," said Mr Katana.

IEBC Commissioner Thomas Letangule said politicians from both sides of the political divide went to different polling stations to intimidate voters.

"We have witnessed politicians trying to intimidate and influence voters, which is unacceptable," said Letangule.

Election observers and human rights activists condemned the attacks and called on the police to take stern action against those behind the violence.

"It is clear that voters want to exercise their constitutional right peacefully but there are people that want to either intimidate them or influence their decisions. We ask the police and IEBC to be vigilant," said Commission for Human Rights Executive Officer Julius Ogogoh.