NAIROBI, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has completed security preparations for the general elections slated to take place on Aug. 8, a government official said on Thursday.
Kenya's Interior Ministry Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho told a media briefing in Nairobi that preparations began more than one and half years ago.
"We are now in the process of deploying more than 150,000 security officers to the over 40,000 polling stations," Kibicho said.
"All the security measures will be in place 48 hours before actual elections takes place," he added.
Kibicho said that the government was aware of the security challenge because of the large number of electoral seats being contested for.
"Therefore we were able to have correct projections on the amount of personnel required," he said. According to Kibicho, all security personnel have undergone rigorous training on how to secure the polls.
"I am happy to report that we have been able to carry out training where we simulated a number of situations, "he added. The security of the polls will be managed by a multi-agency team drawn from all the disciplined forces.
Kibicho said that security will be deployed down to the lowest security level at the village level. The PS said that as a result of the preparations, Kenya is enjoying one of the most peaceful pre-election environments of any general election in history.
"We have been able to prevent any forceful displacement of voters, a situation that was common in previous elections," he added.
