KENYA POLICE, PROTESTERS CLASH AFTER POLL FRAUD CLAIM
Kenyan police have fired tear gas and shot at a group of chanting supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga after the presidential candidate claimed “massive” fraud in this week’s elections.
Leonard Katana, a regional police commander, said Wednesday’s shooting took place when protesters clashed with security forces in South Mugirango constituency in Kisii County, the Associated Press reported, adding that one person was killed in the incident.
Earlier, Odinga rejected the partial results of Tuesday’s presidential polls, saying hackers infiltrated the database of Kenya’s election body to manipulate the “democratic process”.
The opposition leader said that he could not reveal his sources on how he got the information on the alleged hacking.
In a press briefing that took place in the capital Nairobi, the presidential candidate said his party’s results are “completely different” from those published on election commission website.
The contest between President Uhuru Kenyatta, a wealthy 55-year-old businessman, and Odinga, 72, a former political prisoner and son of Kenya’s first vice president,has been a hard-fought election that stoked fears of possible violence.
On Wednesday morning, the election commission website showed Kenyatta leading with 54.4 percent of the votes against 44.8 percent for Odinga, a margin of nearly 1.4 million votes, after 94 percent of the votes were counted.
Raphael Tunju, secretary-general of Kenyatta’s Jubilee party, earlier shrugged off the fraud allegations made by the Odinga camp.
“I don’t expect anything else from NASA,” he said, referring to Odinga’s National Super Alliance party.
“Let’s put it this way, if the results which are being streamed showed that they were leading what would they be saying now?”
Election officials on Tuesday acknowledged the opposition objection, but defended their actions.
“We believe that by displaying results, we have been doing well to enhance transparency and accountability in the electoral process, consistent with the commitment the commission has made to the Kenya people,” said commissioner Consalata Bucha Nkatha Maina, vice chairwoman of the election commission.
The commission’s CEO, Ezra Chiloba, also said a results screen at the commission’s counting centre had frozen because too much data was being received, and that tallies would be updated later Wednesday morning.
During the 2013 polls, Odinga alleged fraud, but quelled unrest by taking his complaints to the courts.
This time, the government deployed more than 150,000 security personnel, including wildlife rangers, to protect 41,000 polling stations.
