<i>Election in Kenya </i>
Photo: AFP
Elections in Kenya may have ended but the results of the elections have sparked violence there, killing 13 people. Mwai Kibaki, the sitting president, has been re-elected but his opponent, Mr. Odinga of the ODM, was not at all satisfied with the results. Although the voting had been carried out in an organised manner and had been fairly peaceful, doubts remain regarding the tallying process as even the head of an EU team of observers, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, and diplomats in Nairobi have raised concern about the credibility of the elections. And the very fact that Mr. Odinga's party won strongly in the parliamentary elections (unseating even the vice-president, foreign minister, defence minister, and a number of previously unassailable and wealthy MPs), and the fact that polls had indicated that the presidential elections would be close, only add further doubt. Hence fears are growing that a civil war might break out between two ethnic groups-- Luo (the ones who support Mr. Odinga) and the Kikuyu (those who support Kibaki)-and this certainly is the last thing that Kenyans would want. In a continent like Africa where civil wars, ethnic violence etc are rampant, one had hoped that Kenya would stand out as a beacon of democracy in this violence-torn continent (despite the corruption that has plagued their country for a long time). But the results of this election do not appear convincing. One hopes that the violence in Kenya will not spread further. And now it remains to be seen whether the security forces manage to curb the violence and handle the situation in the best possible manner. As for Kibaki, he is now holding office in a very volatile situation and he cannot hope to restore democracy through this election which is at best a farce!
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