{"id":365254,"date":"2017-10-26T06:40:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T06:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=365254"},"modified":"2017-10-26T06:40:45","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T06:40:45","slug":"kenya-voting-begins-in-re-run-amid-tightened-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/kenya-voting-begins-in-re-run-amid-tightened-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya: Voting begins in re-run amid tightened security"},"content":{"rendered":"
Security has been tightened in Kenya as voting gets under way in a re-run of the presidential election which is being boycotted by the main opposition.<\/p>\n
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking a second term, has urged people to vote and remain peaceful.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has pulled out of the election re-run, has called on his supporters to boycott it.<\/p>\n
Mr Kenyatta was announced the winner in an 8 August vote but the poll is being held again because of “irregularities”.<\/p>\n
The polls on Thursday opened at 06:00 (03:00 GMT) with tens of thousands of police and other security personnel deployed to protect voters and polling stations.<\/p>\n
One voter in Nairobi’s Mathare slum, taxi driver David Njeru, 26, told the AFP news agency: “It is my duty to vote. Last time the queue was all around the block and I waited six hours to vote, this time the people are few.”<\/p>\n
On the eve of the vote, Mr Kenyatta urged people to cast their ballots: “Our forefathers fought and died for the right of the African to vote, we dare not reject this inheritance.”<\/p>\n
As the polling stations opened their doors, opposition protesters attempted to block roads in parts of Nairobi’s Kibera slum, with riot police using tear gas in a bid to disperse the crowds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The announcement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of Mr Kenyatta’s victory on 8 August led to inflammatory rhetoric and attacks on the body.<\/p>\n