4 killed as violent protests rock Kenya after elections

At least four persons were shot dead overnight during violent protests that were ongoing in Kenya on Saturday after incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta was re-elected in the presidential election, human rights organisations said.

One protester was killed in the port city of Kisumu, according to Human Rights Watch, while another two were reported dead in the Mathare shantytown by a local NGO, Efe news reported.

Local media reported that a fourth person was killed in the town of Siaya.

As the protests continued, police in Kisumu cut access to the city centre and security forces in Nairobi's Kibera suburb used teargas against demonstrators and journalists.

On Friday, Kenyatta was declared the winner of Tuesday's election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), winning his second term with 54.3 per cent of the vote. His rival Raila Odinga got 44.7 per cent votes.

The announcement of the final tally was delayed by seven hours and took place without representatives of the National Super Alliance (NASA) opposition coalition being present.

They boycotted the presentation after signalling that they would not accept the results. The opposition called the election process a "charade".

The NASA had claimed that the IEBC's electronic vote counting system had been hacked and given Kenyatta a 700,000-point advantage.

--IANS

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