Vote count in Kenya’s tight election begins
NAIROBI, Kenya — Polls closed across Kenya after millions voted peacefully Tuesday in a fiercely contested election pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta against challenger Raila Odinga in the East African country known for its stability but also its divided ethnic allegiances.
Long lines formed at many of Kenya’s 40,000 polling stations before dawn, but the Kenyan election commission tweeted in the evening that the balloting concluded “with minimal hitches.”
In preliminary results, Kenyatta was ahead with 55.4 per cent while Odinga had 43.9 per cent after votes from nearly one-quarter of 40,883 polling stations had been counted, according to the Kenyan election commission.
Authorities hope to avoid the postelection violence a decade ago when ethnic divisions fuelled unrest that killed more than 1,000 people. A 2013 vote was mostly peaceful, despite opposition allegations of vote-tampering.
Reaction to the result could partly depend on the performance of Kenya’s electoral commission, which will collect and count the ballots in the coming days. In addition to the bitterly contested presidential race, more than 1,800 elected positions were at stake.
By law, election officials have up to a week to announce results, though many analysts believe the outcome of the presidential race will be declared far sooner, possibly within one or two days.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is the chief election observer for The Carter Center, described it as “an inspiring day in Kenya, watching democracy in action.”
Because Kenya is an African leader, its election is a closely watched event across the continent and beyond. Its diversity, symbolized by the gulf between its so-called Silicon Savannah ambitions for a booming tech industry and the poverty and lack of services found in shantytowns or remote rural areas, as well as its complex ethnic patchwork, mirror the potential for advancement, and the obstacles to it, across the wider region.
Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of Kenya’s first president after independence from British colonial rule, campaigned on a record of major infrastructure projects, many backed by China, and claimed strong economic growth. Odinga, 72, also the son of a leader of the independence struggle, cast himself as a champion of the poor and a harsh critic of endemic corruption.
The winner of the presidential race must get more than 50 per cent of the votes as well as one-quarter or more votes in at least 24 of Kenya’s 47 counties. If the front-runner falls short, the two top contenders will contest a run-off vote.