Kenya: Nationals Vote in Historic Polls

By Newsfromafrica

NAIROBI —Kenyans are awaiting results in their country's presidential election, after millions cast their votes on Monday 4 2013.

Vote counting is underway with about a third of polling stations reporting, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta held an early lead over his main rival, PM Raila Odinga.  Voters endured long lines Monday to cast ballots for the country’s fourth president and a host of other elected positions.

Kenyatta is facing charges at the International Criminal Court that he helped organize the violence that erupted after the last election in 2007.

The chairman of Kenya’s electoral commission Isaack Hassan has said the body is doing “everything possible” to ensure the returning officers who have declared results arrive in Nairobi with the certified results.

Speaking to journalists at the National Tallying Centre at Nairobi’s Bomas of Kenya, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, said the commission was aware of the complaints about the slow delivery of results, and that the matter was now fixed.

“At 9.30pm (Monday) night, there was a network slowdown in the transmission of results from the polling centres. That is now fixed and the IEBC is confident that there will be successful completion of the counting and transmission of results,” said Mr Hassan.

Hassan emphasised that the relayed results were  provisional figures and urged Kenyans to wait patiently for the final outcome.

With a new constitution in effect since 2010, Kenyans are for the first time voting for new elected positions including senators, governors and women’s representatives.

Many are apprehensively remembering the violence that took place during the last election in 2007, which claimed the lives of over 1,000 people.

To win outright, a candidate must get 50% of votes cast plus one vote, as well as at least 25% of votes in half of Kenya's 47 counties. If no-one achieves that, the vote will go to a run-off, probably on 11 April.