More people flee Kenya to neighbouring Uganda ahead of tomorrow’s polls

The immigration department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has recorded an influx in the number of people fleeing Kenya ahead of tomorrow’s general election.

Kenya will tomorrow, Tuesday got to the polls in a race to elect the fifth president since independence.

Addressing journalists on Monday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson, Simon Mundeyi said the number of people entering the country especially via Busia and the Lwakhakha border posts has more than tripled.

“In the last three days, the volumes of people coming into the country from Kenya have gone up whereas those going to Kenya have gone down. The traffic has increased threefold,”Mundeyi said.

“Many of those entering the country are Ugandans working in Kenya but we have also witnessed Kenyans coming here.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson noted that whereas they are not sure of the reason for the influx, they suspect that  many are anticipating violence stemming from tomorrow’s election.

“We are not sure why this is like that. We don’t know whether it is because of the elections tomorrow. We suspect most of these are fearing for outcome and return home to first watch what happens.”

Mundeyi however noted that the traffic is still normal at the Malaba and Swam River border posts but noted that they expect the numbers to go up by the end of the day today, Monday.

The polls

Kenya will tomorrow, Tuesday go to polls to elect their fifth president to succeed Uhuru Kenyatta whose second term has ended.

The incumbent has served two terms and cannot run again according to the Kenyan constitution.

The presidential race has attracted four candidates, the smallest number since multiparty democracy took root in Kenya in the 1990s.

The race has current deputy president William Ruto, 55 who is  running for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA)  and  is in close contest with former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, 77 who is running under the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition as he takes a fifth shot at the presidency, having lost the previous four.

The others in the race who have been described as underdogs include lawyer and former spy, George Wajackoyah, 63, who is Rastafarian and David Mwaure, 65, also  a lawyer.

Neighbouring countries, especially Uganda which mostly relies on Kenya as the gateway to the sea are holding their breath as Kenya goes into the polls on Tuesday, with the 2007 polls and the aftermath fresh on their mind.