Kenya election rerun: As it happens

More than 19 million people are registered to vote but opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for a boycott.

Turnout in Kenya poll rerun down

  • Kenya‘s electoral board, which oversees the voting and counting in the country said that as of 5pm on Thursday, voter turnout during the rerun of the presidential elections was at 48 percent. 

  • In August, more than 15 million people cast their ballots, representing 78 percent of the registered voters. 

  • Incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner in the election in August. But the result was later annulled by the Supreme Court. 

Three people confirmed dead in Kisumu

  • Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi has reported that three people have been confirmed dead following clashes between groups of men and police in the western city of Kisumu and Homa Bay. 

  • One of the fatalities was a man who was shot in his thigh and bled to death, our correspondent said. 

  • Another victim has been brought to the mortuary by rescue workers, she said. A third person was also confirmed dead, but the circumstances leading to his death are still unknown. 

Polling stations close

  • Voting has ended, but polling stations will be open in some areas on Saturday.

  

Vote suspended in several areas

  • The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has suspended voting in several areas, including Kisumu, Migori, Siaya, and Homa Bay.

  • “We have faced and continue to face challenges, which are largely security related in certain electoral areas. The commission is keenly following the security situation and continues its consultations,” said Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the electoral body.

  • Voting in these areas will resume on October 28.

Kenyan police reject accusations of using excessive force

  • “We don’t use excessive force, we respond to (the) breaking of law and order. In every instance our response has been proportionate,” says senior Kenyan police official, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet. 

    Kenyan police in Kibera [Tony Karumba/AFP photo] 
    Kenyan police in Kibera [Tony Karumba/AFP photo] 

Raila Odinga speaks

  • “Today will go down in history as a ‘Day of Infamy’. A nation’s destiny depends upon its freedom to elect leaders.”

Tensions turn to violence

  • There have been violent confrontations between security forces and youths in several parts of the country, with the deprived Nairobi suburb of Kibera and the western city of Kisumu, particularly effected.

  • At least one person has died from a gunshot wound in Kibera. 

  • Here are some images of the violence that is gripping parts of Kenya: 
    A man holding knives in Kibera gestures towards security forces [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]
    A man holding knives in Kibera gestures towards security forces [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]
    A police officer finds himself amidst an opposition protest in Nairobi [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]
    A police officer finds himself amidst an opposition protest in Nairobi [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]
    Opposition supporters try to kick away a tear gas canister fired by security forces [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]
    Opposition supporters try to kick away a tear gas canister fired by security forces [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]

 

Stark contrast

  • There’s a notably stark difference in the language the two dominant figures of Kenyan politics are using on social media.

  • President Kenyatta strikes a more celebratory tone in keeping with a candidate in the midst of a vote, posting pictures of himself with supporters at a polling station.

  • Raila Odinga, on the other hand, has been setting out his demands for a new transparent election, marking each tweet with the hashtag ‘#Resist’.

https://twitter.com/UKenyatta/status/923472221720412160?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Follow our team on the ground

  • For the latest updates as they happen, you can follow our team on Twitter.

  • Follow Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed on @Hamza_Mohamed, Catherine Soi on @C_SOI, and Fahmida Miller on @FahmidaMiller.

More details on fatality

  • Catherine Soi has more details about the death in Kisumu:

‘Election may not be credible’

  • Javas Bigambo, a Nairobi-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera: Today’s violence and reports of ballots not being delivered on time “contribute to the conclusion that this election may not be very credible in the end … It is a failed rerun because so far, from a spot-check across the country, it is evident that the boycott is successful.

  • “If close to half the country will not participate in this election, then the very question of legitimacy of this election upon its conclusion may arise.”

  • “Kenyatta may be compelled to find a way of bridging that divide and extending an olive branch to the opposition leadership to take this country forward.”

  • “To continue with a divided country may be very dangerous to the governance process and even to the political stability of the country.”

First death in Kisumu

  • At least one person has died of a gunshot wound in Kisumu, Catherine Soi reports 

UN warns staff to stay away from some areas of Nairobi

  • The UN has sent an SMS alert to its staff in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to avoid the Huruma Road, Mathare and Kawangare areas.

  • The warning is in response to reports of clashes between youths and security forces. 

Poll delays

  • Polls were due to open at 6am, but as the Reuters deputy bureau chief in East Africa, Maggie Fick, points out, there were delays lasting hours in Kisumu. 

Why are people boycotting the vote?

  • Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller speaks to one woman, an Odinga supporter, who sets out her reasons for not voting today. 

    Kenya election rerun: Ballot legitimacy into question

Clashes in Kisumu

  • Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi says clashes have broken out between groups of men and police in the western city of Kisumu.

  • Police used tear gas against the protesters, and the men used slingshots to hurl stones in the other direction.

  • Elsewhere, President Kenyatta has voted in his home constituency of Gatundu, where he told supporters it was “time to move forward and choose leaders”.

Low turnout

  • Are Odinga supporters heeding his call for a boycott or are Kenyans tired of another election? We won’t know until the electoral commission announces the turnout but Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed describes scenes of polling officials eating sandwiches and sipping on tea, as police officers outnumber voters outside polling stations.

  • One official told Mohamed that turnout was not as high as the August 8 poll. 
    Officials at a polling station in Kibera [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera] 
    Officials at a polling station in Kibera [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera] 

Potential for violence

  • The disputed August election gave way to violence between supporters of the rival candidates and security forces, and as Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi in Kisumu reports, tensions are still running high.

Odinga still on ballot sheet

  • Raila Odinga may have called for a boycott, but his name is still on ballot sheets seen by Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed in Nairobi.

  • A total of eight candidates are on the ballot, but none other than Odinga and incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta broke through one percent of votes.

‘Very smooth’

  • Elastus Mains, a 40-year-old businessman, has just voted, he tells Al Jazeera that he’s happy with the way things are going: “I queued up from 5am. It took me less than five minutes to vote. Very smooth. I’m happy with how it is going. I’m voting again because it is my democratic right. I never boycotted an election and will not do that now.”

  • HR manager Esther Muhindi, tells Al Jazeera that she hopes there are no further reruns of the vote: “I voted because the court told us to. I hope there is no more repeats. This time the queues were moving fast.” 

Polls open

  • Polls have opened, and more than 19 million Kenyans will have the opportunity to cast a vote. 

  • How many of those choose to exercise that right is another matter as opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who received 45 percent of the vote in the August election has called for a boycott.

  •  The 72-year-old Odinga said opposition demands to reform the electoral body following the court ruling had not been met.

Source: Al Jazeera