Two killed as opposition calls Kenya poll rigged
Police fire live bullets and tear gas after riots break out in protest at president Kenyatta’s probable victory
Two protesters were shot dead by police in the Kenyan capital yesterday as rioting broke out after opposition claims of rigging in an election that president Uhuru Kenyatta looks certain to win.
Police fired live bullets into the air and tear gas to disperse protests, which erupted in opposition strongholds in Nairobi and the western city of Kisumu.
The protests came after opposition candidate Raila Odinga claimed a hacking attack had manipulated tallying results.
Mr Kenyatta looked to have an unassailable lead, with 54 per cent compared to Mr Odinga’s 44, after votes from more than 96 per cent of polling stations were counted.
Decrying a “sham” tallying process, Mr Odinga made accusations of a major attack on the electronic system, saying hackers had gained entry using the identity of top IT official Chris Msando, who was found murdered and tortured late last month.
“This is an attack on our democracy,” he said. “The 2017 general election was a fraud.”
Mr Odinga, 72, who is making his fourth bid for the presidency as flagbearer for the National Super Alliance, also accused rivals of rigging elections against him in 2007 and in 2013.
“You can only cheat a people for so long,” he said.
A senior policeman confirmed two protesters were killed in the Nairobi slum of Mathare. One was shot in the head.
“They were part of a group that was protesting in the area and officers were sent to quell the chaos,” he said. “We are told many of them were also thieves who would not obey the police.”
Japheth Koome, police chief for Nairobi, said the two who were killed had tried to “attack our officers with machetes, and that’s when the officers opened fire on them.”
Electoral chairman Wafula Chebukati insisted the poll was “free and fair” but said he would look into the hacking claims.
Raphael Tuju, secretary general of Mr Kenyatta’s Jubilee party, urged the opposition to “look at the figures soberly” and accept the results.
“You cannot claim results are fake with respect to presidential vote and you welcome the areas where your governors and MPs have won convincingly,” he said. “You have to accept the results however they come.”
Mr Odinga urged supporters to “remain calm as we look deep into this matter”.
But he said: “I don’t control the people.”
As his speech ended, scores of supporters gathered in Kisumu and Mathare, burning tyres, setting up barricades and engaging in running battles with riot police.
“If Raila is not president, we can’t have peace,” one Kisumu protester said.
Resident Geoffery Omondi, 22 shook his head as protesters lit a new fire near by. “It is very painful to watch,” he said.
Protests were isolated and in opposition strongholds where elections tend to stoke tensions. The normally traffic-choked streets of Nairobi remained deserted as the country held its breath over the results.
It is the second time the two men have faced off in a presidential election, a rivalry that has lasted more than half a century since their fathers Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Odinga.
Mr Kenyatta, 55, is credited with overseeing steady economic growth of more than 5 per cent. But food prices have soared and several corruption scandals broke in his first term.