[wvns] Kenyans Riot as Vote Count Drags On
Kenyans Riot as Vote Count Drags On
By Nicholas Soi and Robyn Dixon
The Los Angeles Times
Saturday 29 December 2007
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122907F.shtml
Nairobi, Kenya - Ethnic riots exploded across Kenya today as the
official vote count in the country's presidential election dragged on,
prompting new accusations of fraud.
Opposition supporters, mainly from the Luo tribe, waved machetes,
looted businesses and set fire to shops and houses belonging to
Kikuyus, the tribe associated with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.
Kiosks along the road were burning in the Kibera slum area,
stronghold of the opposition presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, as
furious crowds of young men rioted and chanted anti-Kikuyu slogans.
With no official result, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement
declared its leader, Raila Odinga, the winner and called on Kibaki to
concede defeat in order to halt the violence in many areas.
"In view of the growing anxiety and restlessness in the country
over the extended delay ... we now call upon the outgoing president to
acknowledge and respect the will of the Kenyan people and concede
defeat," said Musalia Mudavadi, the ODM candidate for vice president.
Tensions rose when Kibaki began to gain on Odinga's lead as
Friday's count dragged on, fueling opposition suspicions that the vote
was being rigged.
If Kibaki loses, it will be the first time an incumbent president
has been voted out in Kenya, and one of only a few cases in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Tempers flared at the Electoral Commission of Kenya briefings as
party agents demanded to know why the count was taking so long. The
fact local TV stations were releasing figures much faster than the
commission fueled the anger.
Both Kibaki's Party of National Unity and the ODM called on the
commission to speed its count, panel chief Samuel Kivuitu said. When
officials called outlying provinces to find out when figures would be
available, no one answered the phones.
The latest official figures had Odinga ahead with 3.73 million
votes, or 49%, and Kibaki with 3.42 million votes, or 45%, and 159 of
the 210 constituencies counted.
There was no indication when a final tally would be available.
Fourteen million in this nation of 37 million were eligible to
vote. The turnout was reported at 70%, the highest since the
reintroduction of multiparty elections 15 years ago.
The results of parliamentary elections, also run Thursday, were
known, with 16 ministers in Kibaki's Cabinet losing their seats.
The opposition, which was narrowly ahead in opinion polls going
into the election, accused the government on election eve of planning
to rig the voting, but Kibaki strongly denied the claims.
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