{"id":343046,"date":"2017-08-08T07:16:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T07:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=343046"},"modified":"2017-08-08T07:16:20","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T07:16:20","slug":"kenya-election-2017-president-kenyatta-urges-peaceful-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=343046","title":{"rendered":"Kenya election 2017: President Kenyatta urges peaceful vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

People are voting in Kenya’s general election amid fears that the result could trigger communal violence.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the vote, President Uhuru Kenyatta appealed for calm in a televised speech.<\/p>\n

He urged the 19 million registered voters to turn out in great numbers, but “in peace”. Queues formed early and some minor stampedes were reported.<\/p>\n

The contest pits Mr Kenyatta against his long-time rival, Raila Odinga, and is seen as too close to call.<\/p>\n

Mr Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of Kenya’s founding president, is seeking a second and final term in office.<\/p>\n

The final week of campaigning has been marred by\u00a0the murder of a top election official\u00a0and claims of vote-rigging.<\/p>\n

Observers say the leading candidates both avoided inflammatory speeches as polling day drew closer. In 2007 more than 1,100 Kenyans died and 600,000 were displaced after a disputed election – an outcome neither side wants to see repeated.<\/p>\n

This time long snaking queues were seen at some polling stations, and video footage at one showed people injured on the ground after an apparent stampede.<\/p>\n

\"Uhuru<\/span><\/figure>\n

“After you cast your ballot, please go home,” Mr Kenyatta said on Monday.<\/p>\n

“Go back to your neighbour. Regardless of where he or she comes from, their tribe, their colour or their religion. Shake their hand, share a meal and tell them ‘let us wait for the results,’ for Kenya will be here long after this general election.”<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Mr Odinga, of the National Super Alliance, also addressed the public on Monday. He raised fears about vote-rigging and claimed the deployment of at least 150,000 members of the security forces was a ploy to intimidate voters.<\/p>\n

However, he congratulated Mr Kenyatta on his campaign, describing him as a “worthy opponent”.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

“May the stronger candidate win tomorrow,” he said.<\/p>\n

Former US President Barack Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, also called for calm.<\/p>\n

“The choices you make in the coming days can either set Kenya back or bring it together,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“As a friend of the Kenyan people, I urge you to work for a future defined not by fear and division, but by unity and hope.”<\/p>\n

Eight presidential candidates are on the ballot on Tuesday, with polls open until 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT).<\/p>\n

\"line<\/span><\/p>\n

Kenya’s election in numbers:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Six separate ballot papers<\/strong>: For president, national assembly, female representatives, governors, senate and county assemblies<\/li>\n
  • 47 parliamentary seats<\/strong>\u00a0and 16 senate seats reserved for women<\/li>\n
  • Eight presidential candidates<\/strong>: President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga are favourites<\/li>\n
  • Kenyatta beat Odinga in 2013 – their fathers were also political rivals in the 1960s<\/li>\n
  • A candidate needs\u00a050% plus one\u00a0<\/strong>vote for first-round victory<\/li>\n
  • More than\u00a014,000 candidates\u00a0<\/strong>running across the six elections<\/li>\n
  • More than\u00a045% of registered voters under 35<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Some\u00a0180,000 security officers<\/strong>\u00a0on duty nationwide in case of trouble<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    People are voting in Kenya’s general election amid fears that the result could trigger communal violence. On the eve of the vote, President Uhuru Kenyatta appealed for calm in a televised speech. He urged the 19 million registered voters to turn out in great numbers, but “in peace”. Queues formed early and some minor stampedes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[901,3,592],"class_list":["post-343046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","tag-election","tag-ghana-news","tag-kenya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}