President Uhuru Kenyatta is ahead of his rival Raila Odinga in the first round, according to the Kenyan election commission’s website.
As of this morning the commission reports that Kenyatta won 54.28% of Tuesday’s vote and Odinga won 44.84%, with other candidates securing the rest thus far as 39,911 out of 40,883 polling stations have reported.
The commission has a week to declare the official results but it appears Kenyatta has more than the required 50% to claim victory.
Turnout is reported to have been 77.73% with 14,848,284 valid votes cast from 19,611,423 eligible voters. The commission states there are currently 5,133 disputed votes and 395,984 spoiled ballots.
We reject the results streamed so far and demand IEBC produces Form 34As from all polling stations before any further results are announced.
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) 9 August 2017
The fraud Jubilee has perpetuated on Kenyans surpasses any level of voter theft in our country's history. This time we caught them.
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) 9 August 2017
Odinga’s claims of “massive fraud” have sparked fears of post-election violence similar to those which erupted after the 2007 election, five people have been killed in clashes with police since the election earlier this week.
More than 1,000 people were killed in months of ethnic violence in the aftermath of the 2007 vote when Odinga, defeated by then-President Mwai Kibaki, also claimed the vote was rigged.
Kenya’s chief electoral officer Ezra Chiloba told reporters the claims could not be substantiated.
“I wish to take this opportunity to confirm that our elections management system is secure.
"There were no external or internal interference to the system at any point before, during or after the voting,” he stated.
Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International's regional director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes said police had a duty to protect people from harm if protests turned violent but warned “they must not use the violent acts of a few to restrict the right of others to protest peacefully”.
She added: “They must also ensure the safety and rights of independent election observers, and media reporting on the results.”
