AFP, Nairobi :
Celebrations and riots erupted across Kenya Friday night after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor in an election the opposition rejected as a “charade” after claims of massive rigging.
According to the election commission (IEBC) Kenyatta won the presidential race with 54.27 percent to rival Raila Odinga’s 44.74 in Tuesday’s election, handing him a second term at the helm of east Africa’s richest economy.
Angry protests erupted almost immediately in Odinga’s strongholds: in Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera police fired bullets in the direction of protesters, who looted and attacked businesses they said belonged to Kenyatta supporters, an AFP photographer said.
In other slum and poor areas around the capital, as well as the western city of Kisumu, gunshots rang out and protesters lit fires in the street.
The fury from Odinga’s supporters came in stark contrast to the cheers from Kenyatta’s camp in his strongholds, with vuvuzelas and cries of joy in the streets.
The result is a gloomy reminder to Kenyans of the outcome of a disputed 2007 election which led to two months of ethno-political violence that left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
According to the election commission (IEBC) Kenyatta won the presidential race with 54.27 percent to rival Raila Odinga’s 44.74 in Tuesday’s election, handing him a second term at the helm of east Africa’s richest economy.
Angry protests erupted almost immediately in Odinga’s strongholds: in Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera police fired bullets in the direction of protesters, who looted and attacked businesses they said belonged to Kenyatta supporters, an AFP photographer said. In other slum and poor areas around the capital, as well as the western city of Kisumu, gunshots rang out and protesters lit fires in the street.
The fury from Odinga’s supporters came in stark contrast to the cheers from Kenyatta’s camp in his strongholds, with vuvuzelas and cries of joy in the streets.
The result is a gloomy reminder to Kenyans of the outcome of a disputed 2007 election which led to two months of ethno-political violence that left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
All eyes will now be on the reaction of Odinga, who has now lost three elections he claims were stolen from him.
In 2013 the veteran opposition leader took his grievances to court and lost.
“We have been there before. Court is not an alternative,” said top NASA official James Orengo, slamming the process as a “charade”.
After being declared the victor, Kenyatta reached out to Odinga and his supporters, to “work together… so that we can build this nation together”.
Celebrations and riots erupted across Kenya Friday night after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor in an election the opposition rejected as a “charade” after claims of massive rigging.
According to the election commission (IEBC) Kenyatta won the presidential race with 54.27 percent to rival Raila Odinga’s 44.74 in Tuesday’s election, handing him a second term at the helm of east Africa’s richest economy.
Angry protests erupted almost immediately in Odinga’s strongholds: in Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera police fired bullets in the direction of protesters, who looted and attacked businesses they said belonged to Kenyatta supporters, an AFP photographer said.
In other slum and poor areas around the capital, as well as the western city of Kisumu, gunshots rang out and protesters lit fires in the street.
The fury from Odinga’s supporters came in stark contrast to the cheers from Kenyatta’s camp in his strongholds, with vuvuzelas and cries of joy in the streets.
The result is a gloomy reminder to Kenyans of the outcome of a disputed 2007 election which led to two months of ethno-political violence that left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
According to the election commission (IEBC) Kenyatta won the presidential race with 54.27 percent to rival Raila Odinga’s 44.74 in Tuesday’s election, handing him a second term at the helm of east Africa’s richest economy.
Angry protests erupted almost immediately in Odinga’s strongholds: in Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera police fired bullets in the direction of protesters, who looted and attacked businesses they said belonged to Kenyatta supporters, an AFP photographer said. In other slum and poor areas around the capital, as well as the western city of Kisumu, gunshots rang out and protesters lit fires in the street.
The fury from Odinga’s supporters came in stark contrast to the cheers from Kenyatta’s camp in his strongholds, with vuvuzelas and cries of joy in the streets.
The result is a gloomy reminder to Kenyans of the outcome of a disputed 2007 election which led to two months of ethno-political violence that left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
All eyes will now be on the reaction of Odinga, who has now lost three elections he claims were stolen from him.
In 2013 the veteran opposition leader took his grievances to court and lost.
“We have been there before. Court is not an alternative,” said top NASA official James Orengo, slamming the process as a “charade”.
After being declared the victor, Kenyatta reached out to Odinga and his supporters, to “work together… so that we can build this nation together”.
