Kenya vote winner to be announced amid violence fears

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-30 21:54

One man was killed and 10 arrested Sunday in the western city of Kisumu as he engaged in looting, police said, bringing to seven the number of people killed in election-related violence since election day.

Police added that security beefed up throughout the country.

Party agents and electoral staff spoke of returning officers in some polling stations disappearing with the ballot boxes and switching off their phones.

Odinga said Sunday that his teams had found discrepancies between the tallies announced in polling stations and those released by the electoral commission in Nairobi.

"The doctoring has been done here" at the central tallying centre in Nairobi, he said urging the commission chairman to respect independence and transparency or resign.

The candidate running for vice-president on Odinga's ticket on Saturday unilaterally declared victory, irking Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) and election observers.

"I am urging our opponents to restrain themselves and let the ECK carry out its constitutional mandate. They should stop upstaging the commission by making unnecessary announcements," PNU spokesman Ngari Gituku said.

Appealing for calm, the spokesman warned that "ODM and PNU should have the grace to accept the verdict of the people made at the ballot box and the politics of chest-thumping must not cloud judgement."

Odinga warned that his supporters would not accept an unfair result.

"If we lose fairly, we will accept the results. The people of Kenya are not ready to accept a rigged election," he said.

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