NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Latest on Kenya’s election results (all times local): 6:40 p.m. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says he expects his opponents to mount legal challenges to his victory in the second presidential election since August. Kenyatta said
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Latest on Kenya’s election results (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says he expects his opponents to mount legal challenges to his victory in the second presidential election since August.
Kenyatta said Monday after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote that his victory “is likely to once again be subjected to a constitutional test through our courts.”
Kenyatta says the opposition is entitled to take their case to court, and that he will consider dialogue with his opponents after the outcome of any court proceedings.
The president was declared the winner of an Aug. 8 election that was later nullified by the Supreme Court. Opposition challenger Raila Odinga boycotted last week’s vote, calling it a sham.
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5:50 p.m.
Supporters of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta are celebrating his victory in an election in which he faced no significant challenger because of an opposition boycott.
A group of Kenyatta backers sang and danced on Monday near the election commission headquarters where the results from the Oct. 26 vote were announced.
Kenyatta supporter Ann Njoki says: “We wait for Kenya to move forward.”
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5:40 p.m.
Kenya’s election commission says President Uhuru Kenyatta has won last week’s re-run election, which was boycotted by the main opposition group.
Wafula Chebukati, the election commission chief, said Monday that Kenyatta got 7.5 million votes, or 98 percent of the votes that were cast.
The announcement that Kenyatta was the winner by a huge margin was expected because he faced no significant challenge after opposition leader Raila Odinga refused to participate, saying the election was a sham.
Kenyatta was also declared the winner of a presidential vote in August, but that election was later nullified by the Supreme Court.
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4:35 p.m.
Kenya’s election commission chief says he is confident that the country has conducted a “free, fair and credible election.”
Speaking ahead of the announcement of results, commission head Wafula Chebukati said Monday that a “fresh team” of election staff had worked on the Oct. 26 presidential election, which was a rerun of a vote in August that was nullified by the Supreme Court.
Chebukati had said before last week’s vote that he could not guarantee its credibility.
The commission chief expressed his sorrow at the loss of life and property that has occurred during the troubled election process.
President Uhuru Kenyatta ran without a significant challenger last week after opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote.
2 p.m.
Kenyan police have used tear gas to disperse opposition supporters who threw stones after a government official visited a school in a Nairobi slum.
The clash occurred in the capital’s Kawangware area, which has been the scene of unrest linked to last week’s presidential election.
Some students in uniform were seen running in an effort to escape the violence. A policeman carried one student to safety.
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1:55 p.m.
Kenya’s election commission says it will announce results of last week’s presidential vote on Monday afternoon, seeking to end a fraught electoral process in which President Uhuru Kenyatta ran without a significant challenge because the main opposition leader boycotted the vote.
A senior election official, Consolata Nkatha, said the decision to announce results at 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) would go ahead even though voting did not occur in two-dozen constituencies because of opposition protests.
The election Thursday was a rerun of an August vote that was later nullified by the Supreme Court because of what it called “irregularities and illegalities.”
Opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the Oct. 26 vote because he said more electoral reforms were needed.
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1:15 p.m.
The United States says it is deeply concerned by violence that has occurred in Kenya since a presidential election last week.
Robert F. Godec, the American ambassador in Kenya, said Monday that politicians and other leaders should condemn the violence. He also said Kenyan security forces should act with restraint and that protesters should exercise their right to demonstrate in a peaceful way.
Godec said Kenyans should engage in dialogue “to resolve the deep divisions that the electoral process has exacerbated.”
Opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the election Thursday, and some of his supporters have fought police. Authorities say they have had to use force to quell riots, looting and attacks on security forces and election workers.
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12:50 p.m.
Amnesty International says Kenyan police have used “unlawful force” against opposition supporters and bystanders after last week’s election.
The human rights group on Monday cited cases of “police brutality” as well as violence and intimidation by backers of both opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The group refers to violence in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi as well as Kisumu, the country’s third-largest city and an opposition stronghold.
Kenyan government officials say opposition leaders have incited violence with incendiary rhetoric and that police have been attacked by mobs.
At least nine people have died in violence since the election Thursday. Some were shot by police; several died in fighting between different ethnic groups.
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12:33 p.m.
Amid legal uncertainty, Kenyans are awaiting final results of a presidential election in which President Uhuru Kenyatta ran without a significant challenge because the main opposition leader boycotted the vote.
A key question Monday was how the country’s election commission would resolve the fact that 25 constituencies in opposition areas did not vote in last week’s election. Opposition supporters in those areas stopped polling stations from opening and clashed with police.
The Kenyan constitution says “an election shall be held in each constituency” if two or more presidential candidates are nominated. There were a total of eight candidates on the ballot, including opposition leader Raila Odinga, even though he did not participate.
The election Thursday was a rerun of an August vote that was later nullified by the Supreme Court.
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AP journalist Christopher Torchia in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.
