Police attempt to clear barricades ahead of presidential poll on Saturday

Police have engaged Migori residents in running battles after rowdy youth blocked roads ahead of the presidential election that is staged to take place tomorrow.

A heavy contigent of police officers was deployed on Friday in the area to ensure that the roads are passable to allow distribution of election materials.

The officers lobbed teargas canisters to disperse protesters and removed boulders from one of the main road in the area.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati on Thursday postponed repeat presidential polls in Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya counties over security concerns.

In Nyanza, Senior IEBC officials were stuck with ballot boxes and papers in their offices the whole day as they could not get transport to distribute them to polling stations.

Returning Officers like Clement Osiemo of Kasipul constituency and his deputy Maureen Akoth said all the presiding officers and clerks had not reported on duty.

Key polling stations in Kisumu Central and East constituencies, known for high voter turnout remained ghostly, with only a few dogs, chicken and street urchins hanging around.

Kenyans took to the poll on October 26th following a Supreme Court ruling which nullified the August 8 presidential poll on grounds that IEBC committed various illegalities during the poll process.

In the September 1 verdict, the Court ordered the poll body to conduct a repeat poll within 60 days, in accordance with the law.

National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition withdrew from the repeat poll after IEBC failed to meet its irreducible minimums, citing that the election would not be free and fair.

Raila urged supporters to boycott the poll, even as Uhuru's team asked voters to come out in large numbers for the election.

IEBC has seven days to declare the winner, even as debate rages over the credibility of the poll.