KENYA:Kenya's opposition challenger Raila Odinga took the lead yesterday in the race to govern east Africa's biggest economy, media tallies showed, while tempers frayed over delayed official results.
If the entrepreneur and son of a nationalist hero does win, president Mwai Kibaki would become the first of Kenya's three post-independence leaders to be ousted by the ballot box.
Three local television stations aired unofficial, partial results showing Mr Odinga holding a commanding lead. KTN had him on 3.1 million votes versus Mr Kibaki's 2.1 million. That represented about half the 8-10 million ballots thought to have been cast.
But by 5pm local time, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had only released results from 28 of the country's 210 constituencies, with Mr Kibaki leading by 693,195 votes to 517,800. The delays raised concerns among grassroots activists and Mr Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement.
"In this era of technology it is surprising that ECK seems to be moving at a snail's pace in satisfying public hunger for information," civil society groups said in a statement. "ECK must do better . . . otherwise a situation will be created where sections of Kenyans will dispute the results."
Scenting victory, Mr Odinga's supporters said they feared the delays meant the government was plotting to rig the results.
"Is this a strategy to impose a rejected regime on the people?" asked opposition official Joseph Nyaga. He accused the ECK of withholding results from the key Central Province "pending instructions from senior government officials".
The ECK denied interference but lamented the delays, which it said could extend the process into today. "If results were announced on the media two hours ago, the returning officer has no excuse for not getting them to us," ECK commissioner Jack Tumwa said. "The country is getting restless."
Diplomats said it was only the second truly democratic election in a country that votes largely on ethnic and geographic lines and spent 39 years ruled by one party until Mr Kibaki's 2002 victory.
The turnout looked to be the highest since multiparty politics were reintroduced in 1992.
Observers said voting had gone smoothly, despite sporadic violence. In one incident, police fired in the air to disperse youths accusing education minister George Saitoti of trying to rig the vote in Kajiado, south of Nairobi.
In Kamakunji, security officers fired tear gas into a counting hall when a fracas broke out inside.
Near Kisii in the southwest, residents said a candidate shot and wounded two people after he lost his seat. -