KISUMU: Kenyans are voting in an election that observers describe as the most important in the country’s history.
It is the first time a vote has taken place under a new constitution, designed to prevent a repeat of violence that followed the 2007 polls.
More than 1,000 people died in ethnic and political violence following claims the poll had been rigged.
Despite appeals for calm, at least five police officers died when they were attacked near Mombasa on Monday.
At least six other people – including several attackers – are also reported to have died in the assault in the early hours in Changamwe, half an hour’s drive inland from the centre of Mombasa.
There have been further disturbances in the town of Kilifi, north of Mombasa, where six civilians were killed, and another attack was reported in Mishomoroni, but details of both incidents remain sketchy.
Presidential prize
Reports from around the country suggested long lines of voters had formed even before polling stations opened.
Some technical difficulties were reported with newly instituted biometric voting kits – designed to counter claims of vote-rigging and long delays in announcing poll results that were partly blamed for the violence last time.
In places, electoral officials are having to use the manual voter registers, delaying voting. But Lilian Mahiri-Zaja, vice-chair of Kenya’s independent electoral commission, said the registers were complete and there was no reason why the election would not be credible.
The BBC’s Bashkas Jugsodaay in Garissa says there were three explosions in three different polling stations in Mandera, a town on the border with Somalia, as officials were preparing for polls to open. One person died.
It was unclear whether the deaths around Mombasa were election-related.
Some blamed a separatist group, the Mombasa Revolutionary Council (MRC) – which has called for an election boycott – for the incident in Changamwe, but others suggested it was just a convenient scapegoat.
Inspector General David Kimaiyo said that attack involved over 200 gang members, and warned the police would crush any militant groups out to cause chaos.
Waiting in line outside polling stations in Nairobi hours before polls opened, the atmosphere was calm and people chanted “peace”, reports the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse in the capital.
In Garissa, frustration grew in the long queues as the heat beat down, our correspondent reports. Some used umbrellas to shelter from the sun and others bought water to pour over their heads.
Two-horse race
Kenyans will choose a president, members of parliament and senators, county governors and members of 47 county assemblies.
However, our correspondent says all eyes are on the presidency.
Eight candidates are standing but it is essentially a two-horse race pitting Prime Minister Raila Odinga against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, he says.
Some observers say they are particularly concerned about violence erupting should neither of the two frontrunners poll more than 50% – in which case the vote will go to a run-off, probably on 11 April. (Agencies)
