Elections Underway in Kenya

Kenyans took to the polls today, as they cast their votes in the country’s first general election since 2013.

Current Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, of the Jubilee Alliance, will go head-to-head with opposition leader, Raila Odinga, of the National Super Alliance.

In the 2013 election, Odinga narrowly lost against Kenyatta, which prompted him to challenge the outcome in the Supreme Court.

Odinga alleged that the Jubilee Alliance tampered with votes, however, the Supreme Court overruled his allegations and Kenyatta was elected president.

This year is Odinga’s fourth time running for president. He was formerly the Prime Minister of the country between 2008 and 2013.
The Kenyan government said that there are more than 20 million registered voters in the country and that 40 000 polling stations opened across the country today.

Both candidates have urged citizens to adhere to a peaceful election process this year. While the 2013 election proceeded peacefully, the 2007 election was wrought with violence and results in over 1000 deaths.

Several high-powered ‘observers’ have arrived in the country over the past few days to keep an eye on the election process.

Former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is the head of the delegation of observers and has said that, thus far, the election process has been peaceful and with few technical problems.

Other observers include former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, who is the head of the African Union’s Elections Observer Mission and former Ghanaian president, John Mahama, who is the head of the Commonwealth’s Elections Observer Mission.

It is expected to be a tight race between Kenyatta and Odinga, with preliminary results expected late on Tuesday.

Image credit: Elections underway in Kenya (2017) [online image] sourced on 8 August 2017 at https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2017/01/30/foresight-africa-2017-election-spotlight-on-kenya/