Odinga under pressure to stop protests
Two counting operations come to same result
KENYA’S defeated opposition faced mounting calls at home and abroad to calm their supporters yesterday after claims of election rigging sparked violent protests that left at least 16 people dead.
Thwarted presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s flashpoint strongholds in western Kisumu and Nairobi’s slums were quiet yesterday, with signs of life returning to normal after two days of running battles with police, who in some cases fired live ammunition to disperse protesters.
But UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged Odinga to “send a clear message to his supporters urging them to refrain from violence”, a message echoed by British foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
The anger erupted on Friday after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor by a large margin over Odinga following an election pollsters had described as too close to call.
Odinga’s National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition has insisted their candidate is the rightful winner, saying he was robbed of victory through hacking and manipulation of an electronic vote tallying system.
However, calls for them to take their grievances to court, while Kenya’s foreign partners heap congratulations on Kenyatta, have left them isolated and under mounting pressure.
Odinga, 72, a mainstay of the Kenyan opposition since the 80s, has been silent since his loss was announced, but was due to address supporters in Nairobi’s Kibera slum yesterday afternoon.
His party officials have said they will neither back down nor take their grievances to court, as they did in 2013 when Odinga also cried foul over his loss.
“We will not be cowed, we will not relent,” Nasa official Johnson Muthama said on Saturday.
In Nairobi’s Mathare slum, shops and markets slowly began opening and there was no sign of police or protesters yesterday.
“We want to hear Raila. We want to hear what he has to say. It’s him who will guide us. If he tells us to go on the streets, we will go on the streets.
“If he wants us to stay home, we will stay stay home,” said 25-year-old hairdresser Humpfrey Songole in Mathare.
The post-election violence is the worst since a disputed 2007 poll which Odinga claimed was stolen from him. That led to two months of protests and ethnic killings which left 1 100 dead and 600 000 displaced.
Britain’s Johnson called on Kenya’s opposition to exercise restraint to ensure calm.
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini urged the opposition to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints.
In another blow to the opposition, local election observer group ELOG, which deployed 8 300 observers and conducted a parallel tallying operation, determined Kenyatta had won with 54% – the same figure given by the electoral commission.
Kenyan media also urged Odinga to address his base.
“Nasa must direct its supporters to stand down, no matter how justified it feels that the presidential tally was rigged,” wrote the Standard newspaper in an editorial, while slamming the police response to protests.
Interior minister Fred Matiangi denied that police had fired on innocent protesters, saying officers had clamped down on criminal elements taking advantage of the tension to loot and rob. — AFP SEVEN people have been killed in Kenya’s flashpoint west since protests erupted after the announcement of disputed poll results, police sources said yesterday, taking the total number killed across the country to 16.
“We have three bodies that were taken to the main mortuary in Kisumu, we also have one in Homa Bay, and there’s one in Migori and two in Siaya,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity as he is not permitted to speak to the media.
This total includes one death in Kisumu county and one in Siaya already reported on Saturday.
Angry opposition supporters took to the streets directly after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor Friday night in a hotly disputed election on Tuesday which Odinga claims was rigged. — AFP