Kenyatta Leads Kenya Vote As Odinga Voices Concern Over Process
http://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/03/kenyatta-leads-kenya-vote-as-odinga.html
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta held an early lead in Kenya’s presidential election as the party of his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, expressed “extreme concern” about how the vote was handled.
Kenyatta has 54 percent of the vote with results from almost a third of polling stations counted, while Odinga has 41 percent, according to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s website.
The candidates were tied for the lead ahead of six other candidates in an Ipsos-Synovate Kenya opinion poll published on Feb. 22.
Odinga is “extremely concerned about all the anomalies and failures that we’ve seen so far,” Salim Lone, his adviser, said by phone from New York.
“We are not alleging rigging, we are just very worried about the impact of these failure.”
He cited flaws in the electoral register and biometric voter- identification systems, and the possibility that voters still waiting to cast their ballots yesterday after polls officially closed may have been influenced by the announcement of results.
The election is the first since fraud allegations by Odinga’s party after a December 2007 vote spawned violence that killed 1,100 people and left 350,000 homeless over two months.
The vote is seen as a test of stability for East Africa’s largest economy, which is the regional hub for companies including Google Inc. (GOOG), IBM Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)
Kenyatta, the 51-year-old son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, is facing trial at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating violence during the last elections.
He is running along with his one-time political rival William Ruto, a former Cabinet minister who has also been indicted by the Hague-based ICC. Both deny the charges.
The candidates were tied for the lead ahead of six other candidates in an Ipsos-Synovate Kenya opinion poll published on Feb. 22.
Odinga is “extremely concerned about all the anomalies and failures that we’ve seen so far,” Salim Lone, his adviser, said by phone from New York.
“We are not alleging rigging, we are just very worried about the impact of these failure.”
He cited flaws in the electoral register and biometric voter- identification systems, and the possibility that voters still waiting to cast their ballots yesterday after polls officially closed may have been influenced by the announcement of results.
The election is the first since fraud allegations by Odinga’s party after a December 2007 vote spawned violence that killed 1,100 people and left 350,000 homeless over two months.
The vote is seen as a test of stability for East Africa’s largest economy, which is the regional hub for companies including Google Inc. (GOOG), IBM Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)
Kenyatta, the 51-year-old son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, is facing trial at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating violence during the last elections.
He is running along with his one-time political rival William Ruto, a former Cabinet minister who has also been indicted by the Hague-based ICC. Both deny the charges.
