Tensions Rise in Kenya as Kenyatta Leads Vote

Tensions have risen in Kenya over the past few days, as the country awaits the official results of Tuesday’s presidential election.

While Kenya’s electoral commission (IEBC) have delivered provincial results, it is still unclear when the official, overall results will be announced.

In the meantime, Kenya’s opposition party, the National Super Alliance, has claimed that the election has been rigged in favour of incumbent president and leader of the ruling Jubilee Alliance party, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Opposition leaders have claimed that their party leader, Raila Odinga, is in the lead with votes, and demanded that he be handed the presidency.

According to opposition official, Musalia Mudavadi, a whistleblower at the electoral commission disclosed the existence of nearly 250 000 votes in a hidden database. These votes would put Odinga in the lead with more than 100 000 votes.

“We demand that the IEBC chairperson announce the presidential election results forthwith and declare Raila Amolo Odinga…as the duly elected president,” Mudavadi said at a press conference.

The National Super Alliance has said that the IEBC has been hacked – a claim the commission is denying.

The IEBC said in a statement that there was a hacking attempt, but that it was unsuccessful.

Results on the official IEBC website show that Kenyatta is in the lead with 8.1 million votes to Odinga’s 6.7 million.

The claims of election rigging have caused tensions to flare, and violence has broken out in certain areas of the country between opposition and ruling party supporters.

Kenyan police have confirmed that at least three people have been shot and killed following protests in several slums in the country.

Political analyst, Hezron Mogambi, said that Kenyans should’ve had a result by now.

“The long wait is leading to tension…We are supposed by now to have had results, but the delay has been caused by the fact that the opposition had complaints about the system of transmitting results,” he said.

International observers in the country, including former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, and former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, have called on the nation to wait peacefully for the results.

“We believe the IEBC put in place a detailed, transparent process of voting, counting, reporting and securing the vote, all of which lends significant credibility and accountability,” Kerry told reporters.

Marietje Schaake, the European Union observer, said that the electoral commission is “working around the clock” to get the results in.