Deadly clashes mar repeat of vote
NAIROBI, Kenya — Opposition supporters boycotted Thursday’s rerun of Kenya’s disputed presidential election, clashing with police in some parts of the East African country and forcing authorities to postpone voting in areas affected by the violence. At least four people were killed.
While most of Kenya was peaceful, voter turnout was relatively low even in some regions considered to be strongholds for President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was declared the winner of an Aug. 8 election that later was nullified by the Supreme Court in a decision seen as precedent-setting for Africa.
Polling stations in some areas supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga didn’t open at all because of sporadic unrest in which police fired bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing protesters who heeded his call for a boycott and maintained the election was not credible.
Voting in four counties, including the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, will be held Saturday, said Wafula Chebukati, chairman of Kenya’s electoral commission.
A police statement late Thursday said one person died of a gunshot wound in Kisumu County when about 300 people “stormed into” a vote counting center. It said another person was shot dead in Homa Bay in western Kenya when hundreds of people tried to force their way into a police base.
A third person died at a Kisumu County hospital after being brought in by someone who said he had been shot in a confrontation, the statement said.
Earlier Thursday, a police source said another person was killed in Athi River town outside the capital, Nairobi.