kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high
Tuesday 18 March 2025
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

While Some Picked Up The Pieces

Kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high

Violent protests in Kenya over the disputed presidential re-run
Nairobi - AFP

Kenya was stuck in limbo Saturday as a repeat election remained on hold in flashpoint opposition areas, while some picked up the pieces from violent protests that have claimed nine lives.

There was little doubt that President Uhuru Kenyatta would win by a landslide after Thursday's election was boycotted by his rival Raila Odinga, however low turnout is likely to tarnish the credibility of a vote that has deeply polarised the east African nation.

Election commission chief Wafula Chebukati said he would announce Sunday when voting would take place in 25 western constituencies where violent protests and security fears prevented polling from taking place.

With voting incomplete, it remained unclear whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would wait to declare a victor.

"The answer to that question we will arrive at when we reach there. We still have a couple of days to make that decision," said another IEBC commissioner Abdi Guliye.

Thursday's election was held after the Supreme Court annulled the results of an August 8 vote over widespread irregularities, sparking weeks of acrimonious political rhetoric and legal battles.

Despite Odinga's call for supporters to stay home on voting day, protesters took to the streets, blocking voting and engaging in running battles with police.

Tensions remained high Saturday, however opposition strongholds remained largely calm a day after two were killed in clashes in western Homa Bay and the Nairobi slum of Kawangware -- taking the total death toll to nine.

- 'We were targeted' -

In Nairobi's poor Kawangware neighbourhood, members of Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe stood over the blackened remains of their houses and shops after a night of clashes with Odinga supporters.

Both sides were armed with machetes, knives, clubs and rocks. Police said officers shot one man dead but residents claim others also died or were maimed in the clashes.

What started the violence is disputed, with each side blaming the other, but both acknowledge the ethnic logic of what followed.

"We were targeted because this is a Kikuyu place," said Geoffrey Mbithi, a 42-year-old hotelier whose three-room guesthouse is now a pile of bent and blackened corrugated tin sheets.

"This is about tribalism."

Politics in Kenya is divided along ethnic lines, and the Kikuyu -- the largest grouping -- have long been accused of holding a monopoly on power and resources.

At least 49 people have now died since the August election in Kenya's worst crisis since a 2007 vote sparked months of politically-driven ethnic violence that left 1,100 people dead.

While the dynamics of 2017's political crisis are very different, the memory of the bloodshed a decade ago is never far away.

"From past experience, sporadic incidents of violence quickly burst into a conflagration with tragic consequences. We are likely to go this direction unless quick action is taken," the Daily Nation wrote in an editorial.

In Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city where three people died on polling day, opposition supporters were still on alert to block plans to deploy election material, although shops opened and transport was circulating.

- Fractured nation -

Plans to restage voting in the region on Saturday were delayed after Chebukati said he feared for the safety of his staff.

According to the Supreme Court, the election re-run must be completed by October 31.

At a main roundabout in the city, someone had hung up a dead cat. In recent days, ahead of each announcement, Odinga promises to announce his next moves on how to "slay the cat".

Richard Ogilo, 24, pointed to the carcass and said: "Look there is a member of IEBC (election board) at this roundabout. This is Wafula Chebukati. Let him know that we do not want elections."

While the Supreme Court ruling was hailed as a chance to deepen democracy, the acrimonious bickering between Odinga and Kenyatta -- whose fathers were rivals before them -- has sharply divided a country where politics is already polarised along tribal lines.

But two weeks before the new elections, Odinga pulled out, calling for a boycott on the grounds that the electoral commission had not made the necessary changes to ensure a free and fair vote in a call that was widely observed.

"Leaders must now begin preaching the message of reconciliation and co-existence. Elections have deeply divided the people and we need to repair the fractures," said the Daily Nation editorial.

Observers expect further legal challenges over the re-run.

Odinga has vowed a campaign of "civil disobedience" and is demanding another new election be held within 90 days.

Source: AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high



GMT 22:07 2011 Friday ,02 September

Iran urges total ban on nuclear weapons

GMT 07:20 2016 Wednesday ,20 April

Kuwait oil workers call off strike, return to work

GMT 07:24 2011 Wednesday ,25 May

Qantas pilots head for first strike in 45 years

GMT 07:19 2017 Friday ,23 June

Queen Rania commends JAHD

GMT 01:31 2011 Wednesday ,21 September

Humanity falls deeper into ecological debt

GMT 03:05 2017 Thursday ,02 March

Terry Fox Run raises millions

GMT 09:34 2015 Sunday ,03 May

Russian ballet great Maya Plisetskaya dies

GMT 07:26 2018 Sunday ,14 January

At least four dead in Indian chopper crash

GMT 11:15 2018 Thursday ,11 January

GoPro shares dive as it cuts staff

GMT 13:48 2014 Thursday ,13 February

The origami-like Evolution Door that folds away

GMT 05:09 2011 Monday ,28 November

Northern Ghana hit by climate change

GMT 12:13 2012 Saturday ,30 June

A set of modern tables with many benefits

GMT 10:09 2017 Monday ,25 December

De Villiers says ready for Zimbabwe, India Tests

GMT 09:23 2017 Tuesday ,07 February

Airbnb landlord hit with record fine in Amsterdam

GMT 11:57 2017 Thursday ,09 March

Sleek MakeUP teams up with beauty influencers

GMT 16:33 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

US home construction edges higher in November

GMT 09:56 2016 Sunday ,04 December

Dortmund routs Gladbach in Real warm-up

GMT 13:48 2012 Monday ,09 January

PlayStation 4 to be unveiled this summer

GMT 10:07 2018 Sunday ,28 October

What next after Netanyahu’s visit to Muscat?

GMT 14:32 2018 Wednesday ,03 October

Bahrain Bourse daily trading performance

GMT 17:53 2011 Friday ,02 September

Lorenzo quickest in San Marino practice

GMT 14:55 2018 Thursday ,13 September

Roscosmos, NASA heads to meet on October 10

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday