Clashes, low turnout mar Kenya’s rerun presidential election
NAIROBI — Kenya held a rerun of its botched presidential election Thursday, but the opposition boycotted, and clashes broke out between police and protesters, threatening further political turmoil in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s key economies.
The incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, was viewed as almost certain to win because of a boycott by the leading opposition candidate, Raila Odinga. Odinga had claimed that it was impossible to hold a credible election and told his followers that they now were part of a “resistance movement” against what he described as Kenyatta’s dictatorship.
In parts of Nairobi and western Kenya on Thursday, Odinga’s supporters engaged in running battles with police, lobbing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and, occasionally, live bullets. At least four people were shot and killed by police.
In yet another blow to the electoral process, election officials announced Thursday that voting in four counties would have to be postponed until Saturday because of protests and violence. The delay extends a crippling period of uncertainty that already has ravaged the country’s economy.
Kenya has been seen as a maturing democracy and a key Western ally in a region troubled by war, undemocratic strongmen and an Islamist insurgency based in neighboring Somalia. But the past several months have cast doubt on the country’s political stability, with a widening gulf between two mostly tribal constituencies that have competed for power here for decades.
In September, the Supreme Court annulled the results of the previous month’s presidential election, which had put Kenyatta on top by about 10 percentage points. It was the first time that an African court ever had annulled the results of a presidential race.
Violence was concentrated in opposition strongholds, particularly the city of Kisumu, where three people were killed and 29 hurt, an official said.