Kenyans nervously eyed results trickling in yesterday from the presidential election, the first since disputed polls five years ago triggered a wave of bloodletting, with joint Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta taking an early lead.
Kenyatta, who faces a trial for crimes against humanity over the violence that killed more than 1,100 people and forced more than 600,000 to flee their homes, edged ahead in partial results over rival candidate and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory in 2007.
Millions of Kenyans turned out peacefully on Monday for the elections, seen as key to stability in the regional powerhouse.
Photo: EPA
Voters stood for hours in snaking lines hundreds of meters long and several people thick outside polling stations to take part in one of Kenya’s most complex elections ever.
Partial results from about 37 percent of the almost 32,000 polling stations — with more than 4.4 million valid ballots counted from the 14.3 million registered voters — had been sent to the central tallying center in Nairobi, the capital.
Of those counted as of 12:15pm yesterday, Kenyatta had won almost 2.43 million, or 54 percent, of valid votes cast and Odinga had won 1.82 million, or 40 percent. However, the majority of votes are yet to be tallied and Kenyatta’s lead could be easily overturned.
However, more than 277,000 rejected ballots made up a staggering 5 percent of votes cast.
“This election is a turning point, and its outcome will determine whether the country will proceed as a civilized state,” the Daily Nation newspaper said, adding that all Kenyans must “be ready to accept the election results.”
Hours before polling stations opened, bloody clashes erupted on the Indian Ocean coast in which six policemen and six attackers were killed, as several bombs went off in Mandera, on the border with Somalia, wounding one person in.
Kenyan Police Chief David Kimaiyo blamed the coastal attacks on suspected members of the secessionist Mombasa Republican Council and said that 400 officers had been sent to beef up security in the popular tourist region.
There were also complaints across the country at the widespread failure of electronic biometric voting registration kits introduced to frustrate potential rigging. The failure meant stations used paper records and manual registration.
Ahmed Issack Hassan, the head of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, told reporters the body was investigating complaints of voting irregularities from political parties.
“I want to assure the candidates and political parties, please don’t jump to conclusions: Your job is to contest the election, our job is to org anise them,” Hassan said, adding that he did not expect full preliminary presidential results until today at the earliest.
In the western town of Kisumu — the heartland of Odinga and scene of the 2007 clashes — grim-faced people watched the partial results being broadcast on television.
“There is a lot of tension, people are not happy with how things are going,” said Nicholas Ochieng, 24.
In Mombasa, court clerk Ken Malenya drank strong coffee after staying up all night. “I didn’t sleep, I want to know who our president will be, I have to know,” he said.
To win, a candidate must take more than 50 percent of votes, as well as winning at least 25 percent of votes in more than half of all counties to avoid a second-round runoff, due within a month after final results.
Running third was joint Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi with 2 percent of the votes, while none of the other five candidates had taken more than 1 percent.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number