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| Supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition cheer during their final campaign rally at the Uhuru park grounds in Nairobi, Kenya. |
Kenyans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in a knife-edge contest
between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga which has
heightened claims of vote rigging and fears of violence.
The final days of campaigning have been marred by the murder and torture
of a top election official, opposition claims one of its vote tallying centres
was raided by police and a feverish atmosphere of conspiracy and suspicion.
The August 8 election is seen as a crucial test of Kenya's progress
since a disputed poll a decade ago led to two months of politically motivated
ethnic clashes, which along with a police crackdown on protests left more than
1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
Kenyans will cast ballots in six different elections, but all eyes are
on what is set to be the last showdown of a dynastic rivalry between the
Kenyatta and Odinga families that has lasted more than half a century.
The men belong to two of the country's main ethnic groups, Kenyatta from
the Kikuyu, the largest, and Odinga the Luo. Both have secured formidable
alliances with other influential communities in a country where voting takes
place largely along tribal lines.
Polls are so tight the vote is seen as too close to call and turnout
will be crucial to either side's success in the 48-million-strong east African
nation.
The 72-year-old Odinga at the head of the National Super Alliance (NASA)
coalition is taking his fourth and what many suspect will be his last stab at
the presidency. He claims both elections in 2007 and 2013 were stolen from him
and is adamant Kenyatta's Jubilee party is trying to do the same this time
around.
Mounting opposition distrust of the electoral commission has seen Odinga
crying foul and urging his supporters to "protect their vote".
Both candidates are so certain of victory, that Nic Cheeseman, professor
of African politics at Birmingham University, warns they may have "talked
themselves into a corner" in which defeat is not an option.
"It seems almost inevitable that whoever loses will question the
result. The question is not whether or not they will accept the result but what
they will do when they don't accept it," he said.
- Murder, deportation -
Observers agree that the most critical aspect to the election's success
is whether a biometric system of voter identification and tallying works on the
day.
This system was introduced in a bid to counter rigging and boost
confidence in the process after the marred 2007 election. However in 2013
electronic glitches forced polling officials to resort to manual counting.
Odinga claimed there was rigging, however he took his complaints to the
courts instead of the streets and despite a few riots after he lost his case,
the process ended peacefully.
The tension around the electronic system reached breaking point last
weekend after the poll commission's top IT manager Chris Msando was found
strangled and tortured in a forest on the outskirts of Nairobi.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said its
system had not been compromised, and a dry run of the tallying process went off
without a hitch this week.
Then late Friday the opposition claimed its main parallel tallying
centre which had been a point of dispute with the ruling party was raided and
their equipment stolen.
The same evening, an American and a Canadian working with NASA on their
poll strategy were detained before being deported the next day.
Cheeseman said both these events looked "like an attempt by a
political faction to prevent the opposition from verifying and checking
results. It is highly suggestive they intend some form of manipulation."
- Massive security -
Pre-election jitters have seen foreigners and Kenyans leaving the
country or main cities and stocking up on provisions in case of trouble.
Up to 180,000 security forces will secure the poll in which Kenyans will
also elect governors, lawmakers, senators, county officials and women's
representatives in local races also rife with tension.
The two presidential candidates' fathers Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi
Odinga were allies in the struggle for independence, but later became bitter
rivals, setting the stage for decades of political rancour.
Kenyatta, 55, is seeking re-election after a first term in which he and
his Jubilee Party were credited with a massive infrastructure drive and
overseeing steady economic growth.
However polls show voters concerned about soaring food prices and
massive corruption scandals.
More than 19 million Kenyans are registered
to vote at over 40,000 polling stations. Voting will start at 6am local time and
close at 5pm.
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