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Paw Paw couple updates from Kenya as voting is underway

Peacemaking in Africa Blog

A Paw Paw couple is helping to monitor the elections being held in Kenya. Joe and Kathy Ossman have been writing about their experiences as election observers on their blog - Peacemaking in Africa

(Note:  Joe and Kathy Ossman are scheduled to join WMUK by Skype on Tuesday morning.) 

Update: Joe ​Ossman has updated the Peacemaking in Africa Blog.  He has more details on some of the problems during the morning.   But says once the computer system was up and running, lines at the polls became manageable. 

In a blog post Monday, Joe Ossman reports there were some technical problems that delayed the opening of polls and led to some long lines during the morning hours in the Kenyan town of Lumakanda. The problem stemmed from no one having the password for a laptop computer that would allow for the voter registration system to be accessed. 

Ossman says that those problems appear to have cropped up in other parts of Kenya. But he says despite those problems, and reports of scattered violence, Ossman says in general the mood is optimistic. 

NPR coverage of the Kenyan election from Monday morning and Sunday

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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