Panic in Ol Kalou as Teargas Rocks Polling Centre During By-Election
According to witnesses, the situation became worse when several Toyota Prado vehicles arrived carrying masked individuals dressed in balaclavas.
Panic broke out in Ol Kalou town centre after teargas and gunshots sent residents running during the ongoing parliamentary by-election. Photo: Courtesy.
By Robert Mutasi
Panic broke out in Ol Kalou town centre after teargas and gunshots sent residents running during the ongoing parliamentary by-election.
The chaos started near St Joseph’s Catholic Comprehensive School polling station.
Residents had blocked the road leading to the polling centre using stones and poles. They said they wanted to stop suspicious vehicles that are not from the IEBC from accessing the voting area.
“You are not going to steal our votes,” some residents chanted in Kikuyu dialect as tension grew.
According to witnesses, the situation became worse when several Toyota Prado vehicles arrived carrying masked individuals dressed in balaclavas.
The group came out of the cars holding what looked like teargas launchers.
Moments later, teargas canisters were fired into the crowd. Residents screamed and scattered in different directions for safety outside the Comprehensive Primary School.
Some of those fleeing were heard telling others in Kikuyu not to leave the area.
The masked individuals were later seen entering the nearby A.C. Comprehensive School polling station, where security had already been increased for the day.
Earlier in the morning, residents had also confronted another vehicle that had driven near a polling station, forcing it to leave.
Despite the tension and panic, voting continued at the polling station. Election officials remained at their posts and kept processing voters under heavy security.
By the time of publishing, authorities had not yet released a statement to explain who the masked individuals were or why teargas was used.
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