#ElectionsKE: Kenyans to vote in tight, tense elections Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyans vote Tuesday in general elections headlined by a too-close-to-call battle between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga, sparking fears of violence in east Africa’s richest economy. Tensions soared in the last days of the …
Read More »Obama calls for peaceful election in Kenya
Washington, United States | AFP | Former US president Barack Obama called Monday on Kenyans to hold a peaceful and untainted election, speaking out on the eve of a crucial vote in the East African country where his father was born. “I urge Kenyan leaders to reject violence and incitement; …
Read More »KENYA: Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the nation
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta has addressed the nation, promising better days lie ahead whatever the result of the election on Tuesday. “Better days lie ahead. Yes, we have more work to do. But as Kenyans, as architects of the future, we can …
Read More »How the young and restless could change Kenya’s political future
The headlines after 8 August will be about Kenyatta vs. Odinga. But the real contest for Kenya’s future is being waged at a more intimate and local level. Nairobi, Kenya | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS | There is an epic battle afoot over the future of Kenya, but it’s not happening where you might …
Read More »Kenyans take no chances ahead of high-stakes election
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | In recent days, the queues of early morning travellers at Nairobi’s long-distance bus stations have been thick with people seeking to leave the city. In supermarkets, the aisles are cramped with shoppers pushing convoys of trolleys stacked high with provisions. In the runup to Tuesday’s …
Read More »UHURU: from millionaire playboy to Kenyan president
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The son of Kenya’s founding president and a man who epitomises the country’s elite, Uhuru Kenyatta hopes to win a second and final five-year term in elections on August 8. The 55-year-old US-educated multi-millionaire, whose family owns an array of businesses, properties and tracts of land, …
Read More »Kenya may be growing but ‘You can’t eat GDP’
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The timing was perfect. Two months before Kenya’s August 8 vote, President Uhuru Kenyatta inaugurated the nation’s biggest infrastructure project: a railway connecting the capital Nairobi and the port of Mombasa. With pomp and ceremony Kenyatta touted the railway as proof of his campaign promises …
Read More »EAC election observers start work in Kenya
Nairobi, KENYA | JUMUIYA | The East African Community Election Observation Mission to Kenya’s 8th August 2017 General Elections has been launched in Nairobi, Kenya, with an appeal to all Kenyans to vote calmly and uphold peace and tranquillity for the betterment of all Kenyans and the East African region …
Read More »Dead voters and other ways to steal a Kenyan election
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Elections in Kenya are a fraught business, with polls beset with claims of rigging and intimidation, some subtle, some not, and this year’s vote on August 8 is no different. A decade after a disputed election led to the country’s worst electoral violence with over …
Read More »Tensions rise as Kenya poll campaign enters final stretch
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s election campaign enters a tense final week Tuesday, with a tight race between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga leading to intensified personal attacks and rigging accusations. The longtime political foes face off at the polls for a second consecutive time on …
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