KENYA: Kenyans flocked to the polls yesterday to choose a successor to their president of 24 years, Mr Daniel arap Moi, in a historic election that was remarkably peaceful but marred by allegations of vote-rigging.
Polls and pundits predicted victory for opposition leader Mr Mwai Kibaki, leader of the cross-tribal National Rainbow Coalition (Narc). However, his rival, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta made a strong showing in late campaigning and maintained he was still on course to win.
The poll was largely calm and orderly. In Nairobi and Mombasa, however, hundreds of apparently legitimate voters were turned away after their names were missing from the roll.
In Kibera, a stinking slum a stone's throw from President Moi's Nairobi mansion, the omissions sparked scenes of fury and indignation.
"It is a sort of hanky-panky to prevent us from voting for the opposition," said Mr Duncan Ooko, a 24-year-old first-time voter who clutched a valid voter's card. The anger threatened to spill over into violence in the afternoon when a 200-strong mob chased after an election official with cries of "no more rigging", "let the people vote" and "lynch him". The man escaped into a classroom and the crowd calmed down, but it remained unclear how the problem would be resolved.
EU observer mission chief, Mr Anders Wijkman, estimated the irregularities would affect only "a few per cent" of voters, and would only become a problem in the event of a close outcome between the two candidates. Otherwise, he said, polling had been "a real improvement on 1997", when politically instigated tribal clashes caused hundreds of deaths.
Elsewhere, voting patterns wrought by 24 years of tribal manipulation under President Moi seemed to be finally breaking.
A cluster of Masai were voting inside a rickety school building at Ilmasin, a windy settlement along the spine of the Ngong Hills. In previous elections the Masai voted like automatons for President Moi's Kenya African National Union (Kanu), said Mr Joseph Marikuku, a 30-year-old cattle herder. But not any more.
"We are also dancing according to the rhythm - otherwise we might be left behind," he said, reflecting the rush to opposition ranks that has seized Kenyan politics in the past two months.
Susan Kimer, an old woman standing in front of him festooned in bright beaded jewellery, displayed a more traditional attitude. "I'm voting as my husband told me to," she said.
Further back the line was Richard Leakey, the famed archaeologist, conservationist and, until President Moi fired him last year, head of Kenya's civil service. He had flown up from the coastal resort of Lamu with his wife and two daughters to vote. "I wouldn't miss it," he said. He cautioned against polls that predicted a landslide win for Mr Kibaki's Narc.
"I don't think we should underestimate the apathy in rural areas, and the ability of the administration to tell people what to do," he said.
In Thika, Mr Kenyatta's stronghold 25 miles north of Nairobi, voting was also going peacefully. Kenyatta supporters remained undeterred by predictions of their leader's impending demise.
"We need a man who is young, like me, to lead the nation," said vegetable-seller Mr Victor Muriuki (41), after casting his vote. Ms Mary Nyokabi, a mother of nine, agreed. She voted for Mr Kibaki in 1997 but he had become an old man, she said. "Let him go home and look after the goats. We want the kid."
After casting his vote yesterday, President Moi promised to respect the wishes of the electorate, whoever wins.
Counting started at most of the 18,366 polling stations immediately after they closed at 6 p.m. .A provisional result is expected as early as lunchtime today, with a final result by tomorrow.