Wednesday March 6, 2013

Kenyatta takes early lead in tense Kenya vote count

NAIROBI: Kenya's deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces an international crimes against humanity trial, took an initial lead in presidential elections Tuesday, the first since disputed polls five years ago sparked a wave of violence.

Kenyatta edged ahead in partial results over rival Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory in 2007 when disputed results triggered bloody ethnic violence in which more than 1,100 people were killed and 600,000 were forced to flee their homes.

While millions of Kenyans turned out peacefully on Monday for the elections, how they react to the final results will be key to stability in the regional powerhouse.

Just over 40 percent of the almost 32,000 polling stations had sent in partial results by late Tuesday evening, with so far some five million valid votes counted from the 14.3 million registered voters.

Of those counted at 10.30 pm (1930 GMT), Kenyatta had won just over 2.7 million or 53 percent of valid votes cast against Odinga with 2.19 million or 42 percent, a gap that could still be easily overturned.

But a staggering 332,000 ballots were rejected, making up more than five percent of votes cast and totalling more than the third candidate in the race, deputy prime minister Musalia Mudavadi, who has less than three percent of votes so far.

None of the other five candidates had taken more than one percent. Votes coming in to be tallied all but dried up between 7pm and 10.30pm, with electoral officials citing technical hitches.

"This election is a turning point, and its outcome will determine whether the country will proceed as a civilised state," the Daily Nation newspaper said, adding that all Kenyans must "be ready to accept the election results."

Hours before polling stations opened, at least six policemen and six attackers - said to be a separatist group - were killed in clashes on the Indian Ocean coast, while one person was wounded after several bombs exploded in Mandera, on the northeastern border with war-torn Somalia.

On Tuesday evening one person was wounded in a blast in the Somali district of Nairobi as local residents were watching the tallying on TV.

There were complaints at the widespread failure of electronic biometric voting registration (BVR) kits introduced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to frustrate potential rigging.

The BVR failure meant stations used paper records and manual registration.

Questions at slow pace of tally Both sides expressed concern over logistical difficulties.

Kalonzo Musyoka, Kenyan vice-president and Odinga's running mate, told reporters they were worried at the "failure of the IEBC electronic registers as well as the huge numbers of spoilt votes", but urged supporters to remain calm.

Kenyatta and running mate William Ruto's Jubilee Coalition for its part called on the IEBC to "urgently remedy the technical issues that are affecting the tally of votes", saying it was especially concerned at the slow progress in collecting votes in Nairobi and the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, but was also aware of problems across the country.

Kenyatta's coalition also expressed its "surprise" at suggestions it said had been made by Odinga's party to include spoiled ballots as part of the valid votes cast.

If that were done, it would greatly add to the numbers needed for a candidate to make up the more than 50 percent for a first round win. The coalition said there was "no precedent" for including invalid votes.

IEBC chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan said the body was investigating complaints of voting irregularities from political parties, and said the large number of spoilt ballots was a "concern".

"I want to assure the candidates and political parties, please don't jump to conclusions: your job is to contest the election, our job is to organise them," Hassan said.

In the western town of Kisumu - heartland of Odinga and scene of bitter clashes in 2007 when his supporters grew angry at what they saw as rigged results - grim-faced residents watched the partial results being broadcast on television.

"There is a lot of tension, people are not happy with how things are going," said Nicholas Ochieng, 24. In Nairobi's Kibera slum, also an Odinga stronghold, anxiety was also palpable.

"People are anxious. They are not doing any work. They're glued to the TV or the radio," said Francis Ouma, 50.

To win, a candidate must take more than 50 percent of votes - as well as winning at least 25 percent of votes in more than half of all counties - to avoid a second round runoff, due within a month after final results.

The results of the 2007 poll which President Mwai Kibaki won against Odinga sparked a wave of protests, notably because of the lack of transparency in the way the tallying was done.

Odinga and his rival Kenyatta - the son of independent Kenya's founding president as well as one of Africa's richest and most powerful men - have publicly vowed there will be no repeat of the 2007-08 bloodshed.

But crimes against humanity trials later this year at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for Kenyatta and Ruto have raised the stakes: should they win the vote, the president and vice-president could be absent for years.

The 2007-2008 violence exposed deep tribal divisions and widespread disenchantment with the political class and shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability.

However, a new constitution devolving powers has made the poll less of a winner-takes-all race. - AFP

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Wednesday March 6, 2013

Kenyatta takes early lead in tense Kenya vote count