Opposition claims fraud in Kenyan election

NAIROBI, Kenya — Tensions over Kenya’s presidential election built on Thursday after the opposition leader accused election officials of falsifying the results and handing victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta, the incumbent.

Raila Odinga, leader of the National Super Alliance, an opposition umbrella group, appeared unwilling to accept defeat, saying his party had received information from “confidential sources” within the electoral commission with data showing Odinga had won by about 300,000 votes.

Preliminary results that were livestreamed on television shortly after polling stations closed Tuesday showed that Kenyatta, 55, was re-elected with 54.28 percent of the vote, easily surpassing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Odinga, 72, received 44.83 percent of the vote.

On Thursday, Odinga said that he had won about 8.04 million votes and that Kenyatta had gotten 7.75 million.

The opposition leader’s claims, which came a day after he said that the voting system had been hacked, could further rile his supporters and tip the country into violence.

Throughout his campaign, Odinga told supporters the election was rigged. He has said he was robbed of victory in the previous two contests. In 2013, Kenyatta won by a tiny margin, prompting Odinga to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate the election.

Odinga has called on his supporters to remain calm, but at a news conference on Wednesday he also said, “I don’t control the people.”

At the same news conference, Odinga’s running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka, issued what seemed to be a call for supporters to go out into the streets when they were given a signal. “There may come a time when we need to call you into action,” he said.