Tensions in Kenya Over Election Results

[December 29, 2007]  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Thousands of people waved machetes, looted shops and burned down homes Saturday, angry about the slow return of results from the closest presidential election in Kenya's history.

Both candidates insisted they were winning the election, which marks the first time an incumbent has faced a credible challenge in Kenya's four decades of independence from Britain.

By Saturday afternoon, the Electoral Commission said millionaire opposition candidate Raila Odinga was leading with 3.7 million votes to President Mwai Kibaki's 3.4 million, with 159 of the 210 constituencies counted.

"We are confident that (Odinga) has won the election," said his campaign manager, Mohamed Isahakia.

President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity also said it was winning.

"We in PNU have added all our figures and we are pleased to announce that Honorable Mwai Kibaki is winning this year's election," said Noah Wekesa, Kenya's minister for science and technology.

There was potential for even more delays, however, due to the complicated rules for winning. A presidential candidate has to get the most votes as well as garner at least 25 percent of votes in five of Kenya's eight provinces, a move aimed at ensuring a president has some support in most of the country and its many tribes.

The trickle of results ignited tensions in the capital and opposition strongholds Saturday.

In the Kibera slum, Odinga's main constituency, young men with fingers still stained with voting ink were shouting "No Raila, No Kenya!" - an ominous call to declare him the winner. Hundreds of people swarmed out of the slum, heading for town, but police used tear gas to chase them back.

Smoke was billowing out of Kibera as homes, trees and stalls caught fire.

Hamisi Noor, 22, who was standing in front of his burned-out home in Kibera, said a crowd threatened him with machetes before setting his home on fire and cutting his father across the face.

Noor, a member of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, said his assailants belonged to Odinga's Luo tribe. "I don't know who they were," said Noor, his trousers covered in blood and mud. "But they were Luos."

Police were blocking off streets as young men climbed up billboards to rip down Odinga posters in the capital of Nairobi, about 6 miles outside the deserted city center.

"Kibaki come back!" the men shouted as they waved machetes and sticks.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger appealed for calm.

"Give this process a chance to be finished," he said. "This is the time for Kenyans to come together."

Violence was a major concern in the run-up to the election, and several diplomats have expressed concern that a narrow victory on either side could lead to rioting by those who do not accept or trust the results. The voting was generally orderly, and no major disruptions were reported. But as the results trickled in slowly, suspicions about rigging flared.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party said the government was deliberately delaying results because they were losing. Police appealed for calm.

"We'd like the ECK (Electoral Commission of Kenya) to announce the results in order to ensure that the political temperature does not go up," said Joseph Nyagah, an ODM official.

About 20 miles outside Nairobi, hundreds of people massed along a main highway.

"They are looting houses and stoning cars," Irungu Wakogi, a witness, told The Associated Press by telephone.

In Kisumu, some 185 miles from Nairobi, shops were being looted and the streets were clogged with protesters. "People are demonstrating because of the delayed announcement," said Grace Kaindi, a police official in the city.

Kibaki, 76, has been credited with helping boost this East African nation's economy, with a growth rate that is among the highest in Africa and a booming tourism industry.

But his anti-graft campaign has largely been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty.

Odinga, a 62-year-old former political prisoner, promised change and help for the poor. His main constituency is Kibera, home to at least 700,000 people who live in extreme poverty.

If Kibaki loses, he will be Kenya's first sitting president ousted at the ballot box.

Kibaki won by a landslide victory in 2002, ending 24 years in power by Daniel arap Moi, who was constitutionally barred from extending his term. Moi's blanket use of patronage resulted in crippling mismanagement and a culture of corruption that plunged Kenya into an economic crisis.

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Associated Press writers Katharine Houreld, Tom Maliti, Tom Odula and Akmal Rajput contributed to this report.

[Associated Press; By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY]

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