Eye witnesses police have fired on protesters, as Kenya votes, in the second presidential elections since August
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Kenyans are voting in a presidential election re-run. But it’s been overshadowed by an opposition boycott over procedural flaws, that will almost certainly hand victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta
Those shortcomings, already acknowledged by judges and the election commission, are likely to trigger legal challenges.
Although Odinga backed off from calls for protests on election day, police are out in force and eyewitnesses have reported them using live ammunition while firing on protesters in Kisumu. Nearly 50 people have been killed by security forces since the August vote in the city and Nairobi’s slums.
The Supreme Court nullified the previous vote because it found illegalities and irregularities in the election process.
President Kenyatta, declared the winner in the August vote, is urging Kenyans to vote and respect the rights of those who don’t.
Tensions have been rising in the country since the first election with opposition leader Raila Odinga saying that the new vote won’t be credible until the election officials involved in the first vote are replaced. He also accused Kenyatta of moving toward authoritarian rule.