Kenyatta sworn in for disputed 2nd term amid protests

NAIROBI: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in Tuesday for a second term as police fired teargas to disperse angry opposition supporters, in what many hope is the closing act of a grueling and divisive election drama.

The pomp and ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute but was overshadowed by chaos in another part of Nairobi, where police engaged in running battles with opposition supporters trying to gather for a rally.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga was meant to attend the “memorial rally” to honor more than 50 people killed, mostly by police, in four months of political upheaval.

But police kept the planned venue strictly sealed off.

Chaos also marked the start of the swearing-in ceremony at the 60,000seat Kasarani stadium, as Kenyatta supporters attempted to force their way into the venue, prompting police to fire tear gas while officers on horseback struggled to curb the flow of people.

“I just want to see President Uhuru Kenyatta because I voted for him, why are we being beaten like NASA (the opposition coalition)?” asked Janet Wambua, who was among the angry crowd.

Joseph Irungu of the Interior Ministry planning committee had said there was space for 40,000 people who did not get in to watch the event on big screens outside the stadium. However no such screens were provided, further angering the crowd.

Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto took the oaths of office in front of some 13 mostly African heads of state, including from South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Somalia.

Prime ministers, foreign ministers and special envoys represented other African nations, as well as Qatar, Serbia, Ukraine and the UAE.

The inauguration came after the Supreme Court validated Kenyatta’s victory in last month’s rerun poll.

But analysts say the swearing-in may not draw a line under the country’s political crisis, for his defeated rival Odinga has vowed to fight on.

The NASA coalition has described Tuesday’s inauguration as a “despotic coronation.”

The electoral strife goes back to an Aug. 8 poll that was annulled in September by the Supreme Court, citing “irregularities and illegalities.”