Kibaki is new Kenyan president
2002-12-29 07:53
Nairobi - Veteran politician Mwai Kibaki and his opposition alliance have won a landslide victory in Kenyan elections, breaking the ruling party's 39-year grip on power, according to both electoral commission member Obuya Obuya and an independent body monitoring the election.
With most of the votes counted, the 71-year-old economist, who
is leader of the National Rainbow Coalition, had a 33%
lead over Uhuru Kenyatta, candidate for the Kenya African
National Union, or Kanu, the party that has ruled this East African nation since independence from Britain in 1963, the Institute for Education in Democracy said.
Turnout 56%
The international donor-funded institute, which is part of an
umbrella of Kenya organisations monitoring the election, said
5 062 079 votes had been counted by 7:00 on Sunday, and
Kibaki had tallied 3 157 025 votes to Kenyatta's 1 493 252.
Turnout was 56%, the institute said. Some 10.5 million
Kenyans had registered to vote for president, 210 members of
parliament and 2 104 local councilors.
The opposition alliance, dubbed NARC, had captured 116 of 174
parliamentary seats so far counted, compared to Kanu's 42, the
institute said. The other seats were won by smaller parties.
Kenya has 210 parliamentary constituencies and results from some remote areas, where voting was delayed because of heavy rain, had not been released.
Earlier on Sunday, the Electoral Commission had Kibaki leading by nearly a 2-to-1 vote margin. Based on tallies from 127
constituencies, Kibaki received 2 265 815 votes, compared with Kenyatta's 1 142 013, the commission said. NARC had garnered 83 seats in parliament to Kanu's 33.
Final official results were expected later on Sunday.
Former vice-president
Kenyatta was hand-picked by President Daniel arap Moi, who has
ruled Kenya for 24 years and is constitutionally obliged to step
down at the end of his current five year term.
"The Kenyan people have now spoken, and it is with great joy and humility that we accept their trust in president-elect Kibaki and NARC," Raila Odinga, a leading member of NARC, said pm Saturday as results trickled in.
Kibaki, who has been a leading opposition figure since
multiparty politics were reintroduced in 1991, was Moi's vice-president from 1978 to 1988. A London School of Economics graduate, Kibaki was also Kenya's longest-serving finance minister, holding the post from 1969 to 1982 - a period of relative prosperity.
He placed second to Moi in 1997 elections and was third in 1992.
During campaigning, Kibaki promised to right the wrongs of
39-years of Kanu government and revive the country's ailing economy
and fight rampant corruption.
Alliance of more than 10 parties
The opposition alliance includes more than 10 parties and a
number of former Kanu stalwarts.
Kenyatta, a 41-year-old political novice who has never held
elective office, had argued that he represented a new generation of Kenyan leaders.
But Kanu was humiliated at the polls, and a number of senior
party members, including Vice-President Musalia Mudavadi and
Internal Security Minister Julius Sunkuli, lost their seats.
Most Kenyans blame Moi and Kanu's political patronage for their country's troubles. Moi became president in 1978 upon the death of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta - Uhuru's father.
Kenya boasts East Africa's largest and most important economy
and has remained stable while most of its neighbours - Sudan,
Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia - have been plagued by civil
conflicts.
But in recent years its economy has hit rock bottom, largely
because of corruption and government mismanagement that has scared
off foreign investors.
More than half of Kenya's 30 million people live on less than
US$1 a day, few have access to water or electricity and
unemployment is rife.
Kibaki has promised free primary education to the nation of 30
million people and to rid the country of corruption.
What the people want
"I think the results reflect the wishes of Kenyans, people who have been yearning for change for a long time," said Eliphas Nyamogo, a 29-year-old teacher.
"People voted for change because they are tired of the current system, they had no trust in Kanu portraying themselves as new.
"We were not just voting for Kibaki, but for the whole (NARC)team, it offers so much potential for our country."
The US State Department said both the government and opposition deserved credit for the conduct of the election.
"We have great hope that this demonstration of Kenyan democracy will lead toward economic reform and greater prosperity for the Kenyan people," it said in a statement.
Inauguration on Monday
There is no prescribed transition process in Kenya, but Raila Odinga, a leading NARC member, told reporters Kibaki would be inaugurated on Monday if he has officially been declared winner by then.
Moi has promised to hand over power to whomever is declared the winner.
"As long as Kenyans are united, I am satisfied," he said after receiving an official farewell from the armed forces on Saturday. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA