- Title: KENYA: Voting ends in most parts of Kenya
- Date: 28th December 2007
- Summary: BALLOT PAPERS BEING POURED ONTO TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ELECTORAL OFFICER, GORDON NYAJONG, SAYING: "The turnout was very high, the peace was very very high, the process was also very very high." VARIOUS OF BALLOT PAPERS BEING COUNTED ELECTORAL OFFICER COUNTING VOTES, SAYING "RAILA" CLOSEUP OF BALLOT PAPER HAND CHECKING BALLOT PAPER
- Embargoed: 12th January 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA3T3TQOTIRS6725F88PZO3666Z
- Story Text: Polling stations close around Kenya and counting begins in the next phase of elections marred by delays, sporadic trouble and rigging charges from the opposition. First results are expected on Friday.
Most polling stations have closed in Kenya after millions of voters across the east African country's humid coast, shantytowns and lush highlands took part in the tightest contest since independence from Britain in 1963.
Because of delays in opening, about a quarter of the 27,000 polling stations were kept open after the 5 p.m. (1400) closing deadline, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) said.
President Mwai Kibaki, 76, is vying for the top job with former ally Raila Odinga, 62, who is determined to realise a long-held dream of leading the region's top economy.
Kibaki, whose National Rainbow Coalition (PNU) unseated Kenya's 39-year ruling party in 2002, faces the possibility of losing his re-election bid despite a sound economic record and the backing of his Kikuyu tribe, the country's largest.
If Kibaki loses to Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), he will be Kenya's first sitting president ousted at the ballot box. Analysts say the chance of a second transfer of power in two elections shows democratic maturity. Others fear it heightens the potential for trouble.
Many of the 14 million eligible voters began queuing long before voting stations opened at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) for the concurrent presidential and parliamentary votes. In Kisumu, the commercial centre of Nyanza province, Odinga's birthplace, youths armed with clubs roamed the streets, checking if the passengers of minibuses and private cars had voted.
"We don't care whether they vote for PNU or ODM or what...they must vote," said John Odek, one of the youths.
"The turnout was very high, the peace was very very high, the process was also very very high," said one electoral officer, Gordon Nyajong.
In Nairobi's vast Kibera slum, gunmen shot dead one man and wounded two others near a polling station. Police called it an "act of thuggery", while the opposition said the attack was against three of its agents.
"Probably it was political from what they were saying because they had just come from voting and when they were brought here they said that they were not asked any questions by the assailants. They approached the vehicle and opened fire," Hospital Administrator, Joe Momanyi, said.
While Kenya enjoys a reputation as a haven of stability in a volatile region, it has a long history of election violence.
The candidate who receives more votes than his closest challenger, plus 25 percent in five of eight provinces will win.
First official results are expected early on Friday (December 28). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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