Tag: Kenya

Opposition leader: Kenya moving toward ‘outright dictatorship’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga sharply criticized the role of Western diplomats and election observers in the recent presidential vote and warned Thursday that the country is moving toward “outright dictatorship.” Odinga boycotted the presidential election held in September and has termed it a “sham.” Incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta secured 98 percent of the vote. Eight days before the election, “the chairman of the electoral commission publicly, on live television, said he was not […]

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After Kenyatta win, all eyes on Kenya’s embattled opposition chief

by Hazel Ward Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Kenya was once again left waiting Tuesday, as embattled opposition leader Raila Odinga prepared to lay out his strategy following a boycott of last week’s protest-hit elections that handed President Uhuru Kenyatta a landslide win. Thursday’s contest saw Kenyatta winning a decisive victory with 98 percent of the vote, hailing the result as a vindication of his victory in an initial August poll which was later overturned by […]

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Kenya in limbo as incomplete election keeps tensions high

  by Fran Blandy Agence France Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Kenya was stuck in limbo Saturday as a repeat election remained on hold in flashpoint opposition areas, while some picked up the pieces from violent protests that have claimed nine lives. There was little doubt that President Uhuru Kenyatta would win by a landslide after Thursday’s election was boycotted by his rival Raila Odinga, however low turnout is likely to tarnish the credibility of […]

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Four killed in Kenya as protests prompt partial vote delay

  by Tristan McConnell with Nicolas Delaunay in Kisumu Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — At least four people were killed Thursday in clashes over Kenya’s election re-run, prompting officials to delay the vote in four counties and further tarnishing the credibility of a deeply divisive poll. As counting began after a day marked by bloodshed and poor voter turnout, President Uhuru Kenyatta was heading for a landslide victory after his rival Raila Odinga pulled out. But estimated […]

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Scuffles as police disperse protesters trying to block Kenya vote

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – Kenyan police clashed with opposition protesters in parts of Nairobi and in the west of the country who tried to block voting Thursday in an election boycotted by their leader Raila Odinga, AFP correspondents said. In several western towns, protesters blocked roads and barricaded the entrances to polling stations, lobbing rocks at police who fired teargas to disperse them. In the slums of the Kenyan capital, police also engaged in running […]

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Divided Kenya votes in fractious second election

 by Hazel Ward with Nicolas Delaunay in Kisumu  Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A divided Kenya heads to the polls on Thursday in a bitterly disputed presidential re-run that has sparked fears both at home and abroad for the stability of the east African powerhouse. It will be the second time in three months that Kenyans vote after the August victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta was overturned by the Supreme Court in an unprecedented ruling that unleashed […]

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Uhuru Kenyatta: president facing Pyrrhic election victory

by Tristan McConnell Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – Uhuru Kenyatta, who is set to win a second and final term in Thursday’s election re-run, is the son of Kenya’s founding president and a man who epitomizes the country’s elite. The 55-year-old US-educated multi-millionaire, whose family owns an array of businesses, properties and land, followed in his father’s footsteps when he defeated his rival Raila Odinga to become president in 2013. Their rematch in August was […]

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Somalia truck bomb death toll jumps to 358 dead

MOGADISHU, Somalia  (AFP) – Somalia’s deadliest ever attack, a truck bomb in the capital Mogadishu, has now killed 358 people with 228 more injured, the government said late Friday, a major jump in the fatality toll. A truck packed with explosives blew up in Hodan on October 14, destroying some 20 buildings in the bustling commercial district, leaving scores of victims burned beyond recognition. Several experts told AFP the truck was probably carrying at least 500 kilos […]

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Kenya poll official quits, says election not ‘credible’

by Fran Blandy Agence France-Presse One of Kenya’s top election officials quit Wednesday in a searing statement accusing her colleagues of political bias and saying an upcoming presidential election could not be credible. The resignation of one of seven poll commissioners is the latest dramatic twist to an election process that has plunged the East African nation into its worst political crisis in a decade. “The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee […]

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Seven Kenyan police, civilian killed by IED: police

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Seven police officers and a civilian were killed when an armored vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in southeastern Kenya, a week after 14 others died in similar attacks claimed by Shabaab Islamists, a police source said Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate, we lost all the seven officers who were in the vehicle,” a senior police officer in the coastal Lamu district near the Somali border, told AFP. “All the bodies were found scattered […]

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Eyeing growth boost, Kenya opens Chinese-built railway

by Raphael Ambasu MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) — Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday inaugurated a Chinese-built railway, the country’s biggest infrastructure project since its independence. The boxy red-and-white diesel train left from a gleaming new terminal in the port city of Mombasa, carrying Kenyatta, Chinese dignitaries and citizens from around the country on its maiden journey to Nairobi. The five-hour journey will take less than half the time to drive between the two cities, a […]

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