UDA's Mpusia Amos pulled off a win in the Purko Ward race after the previous guy, Simon Saitoti, died earlier this year. He grabbed 2,805 votes while his main challenger, Sanare from DCP, got 1,522 and ODM's Naikuni managed just 298. Turnout hit over 80 percent with nearly 3,900 people showing up out of around 4,800 registered voters.
Mpusia thanked his opponents for keeping things civil during the campaign and promised to team up with everyone to help residents. Former Interior CS Katoo Ole Metito congratulated him and said the result shows where the county is headed politically. The ward sits inside Kajiado Central Constituency.
One guy already won his seat before anyone else even started voting because nobody bothered running against him. Reuben Kigen Tobosei locked down the MCA spot for Tembelio Ward after the electoral commission officially declared him the winner when zero opponents stepped up to challenge him. Another dude named Philip Kipkosgei Kiprutto pulled off the same move in Elgeyo Marakwet, meaning only 22 races actually happened out of the 24 that were supposed to go down.
Tobosei credited President William Ruto for creating the political situation that let him cruise into office without competition. The vacancy opened up when the governor picked someone else to be deputy, which bumped the previous MCA out of the ward seat.
Results were...
Cops broke up a bunch of dudes who rolled up to a polling spot in Siakago while ballots were getting counted. The crowd started yelling anti-government stuff and edging closer to the entrance before officers scattered everyone and kept things chill so vote tallying could keep rolling.
Earlier that day, the UDA candidate Leo Wa Muthende accused people of sliding voters like 100 or 200 shillings to buy their votes in Mbeere North. Former CS Justin Muturi kicked out some MCA named Kiruga Thuku from a station for wearing what looked like party colors, even though Thuku said his yellow jacket was just regular church clothes.
Security stayed heavy the whole time, and police ended up lobbing teargas and firing warning shots when people tried...
Kenya's electoral body walked through what goes down after polls shut and explained how ballots get handled from counting to final results. Presiding officers crack open the boxes while everyone watches and sort votes into piles before tallying them out loud. Staff record everything on Form 35A and snap photos to upload through the biometric system before physical papers head to constituency centers under security escort.
The forms get posted on polling station doors so people can verify numbers, and agents grab copies for themselves. Results pop up on the commission portal after transmission. Constituency officers compare uploaded data with hard copies to prep final tallies and declare winners for local races, while bigger contests...
Kenya's electoral commission dropped a statement saying ballot boxes get cracked open right in front of everyone once voting wraps up at 5 pm. The presiding officer handles the whole count at each station while agents and media watch the tallying happen live. Results hit the public portal after that.
Polls started at 6 am across the country for 22 races. Voters got checked through biometric scanners and had to match their info from the 2022 register that was posted up at every location. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen told politicians to knock it off with the whole protecting votes thing and warned that rolling up with goons to intimidate people at polling or counting spots means catching charges. He said security is what...
Kenyan cops grabbed eight people and confiscated a bunch of sketchy weapons during a security sweep near Bungoma ahead of some local elections. Officers stopped a vehicle in the Sikusi area on the Chwele-Bungoma road and found machetes, clubs, and metal rods inside. The suspects got hauled to Bungoma Police Station and are waiting to get processed before they see a judge.
The bust was part of bigger security efforts across Bungoma County because authorities were worried about problems in Kabuchai Ward, one of 22 spots holding votes. Police had already dealt with minor scraps in Kabuchai, Kanduyi, and Webuye East before election day. Cops think the weapons were meant for voter intimidation or causing chaos at polling stations. Similar...
Zimbabwe might actually hit single-digit inflation for the first time since 1997 if Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube gets his way. The guy told Parliament that the rate should drop to around 10 percent before the year wraps up and could dip below that threshold early next year. Annual inflation already fell from 82.7 percent in September to 19 percent last month, which is the lowest reading since late 2023.
Ncube credits tight monetary policy and good crop harvests for keeping prices stable. Monthly inflation stayed around 0.4 percent between February and October, which shows their currency moves are working. Business analysts think hitting single digits is doable if the government keeps exchange rates steady and does not mess with the...
Zimbabwe got a new army boss when Lieutenant General Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi took over from General Emmanuel Matatu, who moved up to run the whole defense force. Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri watched the handover go down and said both guys fought in the liberation war as teenagers before helping build the military after independence.
Muchinguri-Kashiri told the generals they have massive jobs protecting the country and need to make smart calls that affect everyone in uniform. She reminded them to stick to the Constitution, Defence Act, and policy docs. Tapfumaneyi said he knows the gig is huge, but wants to keep upgrading the army to match modern warfare stuff happening globally.
Zimbabwe's First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa, showed up at John Tallach High School in Umguza District to check out what kids are doing with trash under her waste recycling program. The school won a national competition for turning garbage into stuff they can sell while keeping their campus clean.
Students walked her through their setup of composting, chicken coops, sewing projects, and how they make soap from recycled materials. She bought some of their farm produce and a magazine that the kids put together about environmental issues. Mnangagwa told the students that staying busy with these projects keeps them off drugs and gives them practical skills if academics aren't their thing.
The competition had almost 3000 schools participate...
