Nairobi/Kisumu, Kenya - Celebrations broke
out in pockets of Kenya on Thursday after the opposition said
Raila Odinga should be declared winner of the presidential vote,
a claim rejected as "ridiculous" by an election commission
official.
An opposition official said information from "confidential
sources" showed Odinga had secured victory, contradicting
official preliminary results released so far which show
President Uhuru Kenyatta had won 54.2 percent of votes, ahead of
Odinga on 44.9 percent - a lead of 1.4 million votes with 99
percent of polling stations reported.
International observers on Thursday praised the handling of
the election and the European Union mission said it had seen no
sign of manipulation during voting.
As they wait for final results to be tallied and confirmed,
many Kenyans are nervous of a repeat of the clashes that killed
about 1,200 people after the bitterly contested 2007 election.
Musalia Mudavadi, a senior official in the opposition
coalition, told reporters information from "confidential
sources" at the election commission showed Odinga had secured
victory by just under 300 000 votes. He provided no evidence but
demanded Odinga be declared winner.
Minutes later, hundreds of Odinga supporters, mainly young
men, poured onto the streets of the opposition stronghold of
Kisumu in celebration. At least one truck of anti-riot police
followed them, a Reuters witness said. Some older men tried to
convince the youth not to join the crowds.
There were pockets of similar celebrations in opposition
strongholds in Nairobi as well.
After complaining of fraud, Odinga told Reuters he believed
most of more than 20,000 polling station result forms uploaded
to the election commission's website were fake.
Odinga said results were being filled out by agents working
out of a Nairobi hotel but he did not provide any evidence. He
previously said the election commission's computer network had
been hacked and that results were "fictitious".
A senior official in the election commission rejected the
opposition's claims.
"They have done their own additions and they think Raila has
8 million (votes), which is ridiculous, there is nothing," Abdi
Yakub Guliye said. "As far as we are concerned, we don't believe
they have any credible data."
Kenyatta, a 55-year-old businessman seeking a second
five-year term, and Odinga, loser of Kenya's last two elections
amid similar claims of fraud, are the heads of Kenya's two
political dynasties.
Earlier in the week, Odinga urged his supporters to remain
calm but warned: "I don't control the people."
NO "MANIPULATION"
In its first assessment of Tuesday's poll, the European
Union's election observer mission said it had seen no signs of
"centralised or localised manipulation" of the voting process.
Marietje Schaake, head of the mission, said the EU would
provide an analysis of the tallying process in a later report.
John Kerry, the former U.S. Secretary of State heading the
Carter Center observer mission, said the election system, which
is ultimately based on the original paper ballots cast, remained
solid and all sides should wait for electronic tallies to be
double-checked against hard copies.
"The process that was put in place is proving its value thus
far," Kerry said. "Kenya has made a remarkable statement to
Africa and the world about its democracy and the character of
that democracy. Don't let anybody besmirch that."
The election commission said it hoped to have all results
centralised by midday on Friday and would announce a winner soon
after that. It said there had been an attempt to hack into its
system but said it had failed.
Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president in charge of
the African Union observer mission, praised the poll so far.
"It would be very regrettable if anything emerges afterwards
that sought to corrupt the outcome, to spoil that outcome," he
said.
PROTESTS
Reuters TV footage showed police firing live rounds as they
clashed with youths throwing stones in Kawangware slum in
Nairobi. One injured or dead person was rushed from the scene in
a sack.
But most of the capital and the rest of the country were
calm after four people were killed in violence on Wednesday.
Traffic flowed on Nairobi's usually gridlocked streets but
an increasing number of businesses opened.
Earlier in the day, some market stalls and shops had opened
in Kisumu and more vehicles were on the street than a day
earlier.
A group of men said they were eager for daily life to return
and could not afford the consequences of violence in their city,
which saw some of the worst clashes a decade ago.
"We don't want to fight," said driver Evans Omondi, 28,
wearing a polo shirt and jeans. "We want to go back to work."
In 2007, tallying was halted and the incumbent president
declared the winner, triggering an outcry from Odinga's camp and
waves of ethnic violence that led to International Criminal
Court charges against Kenyatta and his now-deputy William Ruto.
The cases against them collapsed as witnesses died or
disappeared.