Protests erupt after Kenyan president wins election

By Daniel Wallis and Wangui Kanina

| December 30, 2007

A poster of Odinga (REUTERS Antony Njuguna – KENYA)

Supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) are dispersed by police with tear gas during protests in Nairobi December 29, 2007. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki won a second five-year term on Sunday in a disputed election victory that triggered deadly riots by tens of thousands of opposition supporters.

As smoke billowed from protests in Nairobi slums, Kibaki was sworn in on the lawn of State House just an hour after the result was announced, his hand on a Bible. Opposition supporters accused the government of vote rigging.

The 76-year-old Kibaki urged Kenyans to put aside election “passions” and promised a corruption-free government to forge unity in the polarised east African nation of 36 million, long seen as an island of relative stability in a volatile region.

“I thank all of you for the trust you have bestowed upon me,” he said. “I urge all or us to set aside the passions that were excited by the election process and work together.”

Some Kibaki supporters celebrated in the streets.

But they were quickly outnumbered by furious supporters of opposition rival Raila Odinga.

Local TV said 10 people were killed in Kisii, in Odinga’s ethnic Luo homeland. Police shot into a crowd in Kisumu, killing another three people, residents and witnesses said. A Reuters reporter was attacked in Kisumu.

Odinga has accused the government of widespread rigging — allegations that had already fuelled two days of ethnic riots.

In Kibera, Nairobi’s biggest shantytown, witnesses said protesters burned shacks as they chanted pro-Odinga slogans.

“There’s a lot of heat over here. People are out in their thousands,” Kibera resident Joshua Odutu said against a backdrop of gunshots, whistles and shouting.

The head of Kenya’s electoral commission (ECK), Samuel Kivuitu, declared Kibaki winner amid chaotic scenes at the main vote tallying centre. Kivuitu had to be escorted to safety by paramilitary police.

“DOUBT REMAINS”

Chief European Union observer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said some doubts remained about the accuracy of the final count.

“We believe that, at this time, the ECK, despite the best efforts of its chairman, has not succeeded in establishing the credibility of the tallying process to the satisfaction of all parties and candidates,” he said in a statement.

“We regret that it has not been possible to address irregularities about which both the EU (observer mission) and the ECK have evidence… some doubt remains as to the accuracy of the result of the presidential election as announced today.”

Odinga’s officials were locked in a crisis meeting after the announcement and did not immediately comment.

Delays announcing official results have triggered furious protests and ethnic clashes across Kenya.

The few supermarkets and food shops that opened were packed with nervous customers earlier in the day. Shelves of meat, milk, beer, bottled water and other provisions emptied fast.

Business leaders said this weekend’s tribal clashes were costing more than $30 million (15 million pounds) a day in lost taxes — not to mention looting damage — and threatened investment in Kenya.

One election observer who asked not to be named said they were “in very little doubt” there had been rigging.

(Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed in Kisumu, Katie Nguyen, Nicolo Gnecchi, Helen Nyambura-Mwaura, Duncan Miriri, Bryson Hull, Andrew Cawthorne, George Obulutsa and Tim Cocks; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

Opposition urges Kenya leader to concede

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga called on Sunday for the government to concede defeat or allow a re-count of a presidential election, saying the government had lost “all legitimacy” due to fraud.

“If need be, he should resign,” Odinga told a news conference. “We do not want to plunge this country into chaos.”

Election officials convened to give final results of the vote as unrest simmered after a chaotic count marred by widespread ethnic violence and allegations of rigging.

Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), questioned why his initial strong lead in Thursday’s election counting had suddenly narrowed.

“We will not accept cooked figures … This government has lost all legitimacy and cannot govern.”

In the western opposition stronghold of Kisumu, police fired in the air to disperse small groups of youths, witnesses said, as they tried to head off a second day of looting and arson there.

Several people were killed across the east African nation on Saturday in clashes that dented Kenya’s reputation as an oasis of stability in a volatile region.

Latest results released on Saturday showed President Mwai Kibaki, 76, taking the lead, infuriating supporters of Odinga, who led in earlier tallies and most pre-election opinion polls.

With the final outcome about to be announced by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) at a conference centre ringed by armed guards, opposition officials huddled together while Kibaki’s men laughed as they waited.

Speculation among foreign diplomats and Kenyan media was rife Kibaki might opt to be sworn in as early as Sunday afternoon, if he wins — but State House denied that.

“We are in very little doubt there has been rigging,” said one election observer on condition of anonymity. “If Kibaki wins, they will want to move quickly. They will want to be in government straightaway to deal with any violence.”

Tension was palpable in the Nairobi conference centre where a day before Odinga allies heckled the head of the electoral commission as he tried to read out figures giving Kibaki a lead of some 120,000 votes.

An earlier official tally gave Odinga a 38,000 vote lead.

“QUESTION MARK”

“There is a massive question mark over the tally of votes,” chief EU observer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told Reuters.

“Our observers have been sent away from tallying centers without being given results. In Mombasa, none of the results were being displayed at the tallying centers.”

He also said there was concern over voter turnout figures in some areas, including Kibaki’s Central Province where two polling stations recorded a 98-99 percent showing, and Odinga’s Nyanza homeland.

Worries about the vote counting have cast a shadow over Thursday’s elections that were initially praised by foreign observers and billed by some as a model for the continent.

Odinga supporters set fire to a car in a Nairobi suburb on Sunday as envoys, foreign monitors and local media urged calm.

“The ECK, Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) on the one hand, and the citizens on the other, must all make sure Kenya does not burn,” the Sunday Standard newspaper said in an editorial.

“The country is bigger than all of us.”

Former colonial power Britain said it was disturbed by the violence and urged all politicians to act responsibly, while Washington asked candidates to accept the electoral commission’s final result.

“This is a pivotal moment for Kenya. It is vital the entire election process meets the expectations of the Kenyan electorate,” British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

“The international community hopes Kenya will live up to both the letter and the spirit of its democratic principles.”

Kivuitu admitted there had been some problems including a reported 115 percent voter turnout in one constituency and the disappearance of some electoral commission officers.

Both sides had claimed victory on Saturday in Kenya’s closest-fought election in its four decades of independence.

Although Kenya’s 42 ethnic groups generally get along, Odinga’s big Luo tribe and Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe, the country’s largest, have a long history of rivalry.

Odinga, the wealthy son of Kenya’s first vice president who commands almost god-like adulation among Luos, stayed silent as rioting and looting erupted in his western stronghold, Kisumu.

Kibaki also made no public appeal for calm.

(Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed in Kisumu, Andrew Cawthorne, Daniel Wallis and Tim Cocks; Editing by Katie Nguyen and Giles Elgood)