Violence blamed on opposition

NAIROBI, Kenya — A top Kenyan government official accused opposition leaders Sunday of inciting riots and attacks on police since a repeat presidential election, while opposition chief Raila Odinga visited a Nairobi slum and told thousands of cheering supporters that the government intends to rule by force.

As the rift between the East African country’s two main political factions appeared to widen, the Kenyan election commission was finalizing and verifying its tally of votes from an election that was boycotted by Odinga supporters, essentially yielding what they see as a hollow victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Odinga said in an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday that the election on Thursday was a sham and that a new vote should be held within 90 days.

At least nine people have died in violence linked to the election, which was a rerun of an Aug. 8 vote that was nullified by the Supreme Court because of irregularities and illegalities.

Some were shot by police, and several died in clashes between ethnic groups, highlighting the ethnic loyalties that drive Kenyan politics despite the disavowals of national leaders. Mobs have also looted shops and burned property in some areas.

Kenyatta, who got 54 percent of the vote in August, is from the Kikuyu community and has said the country must combat tribalism; Odinga, who got nearly 45 percent in the earlier election, is a Luo and said during a trip to the capital’s Kawangware slum on Sunday that Kenyans had been victims of “ethnic discrimination.”

“Kenyans want justice, not rule by force,” said Odinga, who held a fly whisk, a symbol of authority.

Some recent unrest has been wrongly “couched as demonstrations” by the opposition and some media outlets, and violence has “emanated from political speech” by Odinga and senior aides, said Martin Kimani, a presidential envoy and head of a government task force on counterterrorism. Odinga’s remark that he was forming a “resistance” movement and opposition comments that the government was carrying out a “genocide” against its detractors have inflamed crowds, Kimani said.

“We are looking for some suspects who are politicians,” Kimani said without providing names.

Voting was postponed in several opposition strongholds because of protests that prevented polling stations from opening. On Sunday, commission chief Wafula Chebukati said he would soon announce a plan for four out of Kenya’s 47 counties where voting was postponed.

“Kenyans want justice, not rule by force.” Raila Odinga, opposition leader