Pressure mounts on Kenya opposition

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Kenya's defeated opposition faced mounting calls at home and abroad to calm their supporters Sunday after claims of election rigging sparked violent protests that left at least 11 people dead.

Odinga's flashpoint strongholds in western Kisumu and Nairobi's slums were quiet Sunday, with signs life was returning to normal after two days of running battles with police. Officers in some clashes used live ammunition to disperse stone-throwing, tyre-burning residents, with tear gas also fired.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged thwarted presidential candidate Raila Odinga to "send a clear message to his supporters urging them to refrain from violence", a message echoed by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

A man pulls a barrow through the street of Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya, August 13, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The anger erupted on Friday night after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor by a large margin against his rival Odinga following an election pollsters had described as too close to call.

Odinga's National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition has insisted their candidate is the rightful winner, saying he was robbed of victory through hacking and manipulation of an electronic vote tallying system.

However calls for them to take their grievances to court, while Kenya's foreign partners heap congratulations on Kenyatta, have left them isolated and under mounting pressure.

Police patrol through the streets of Mathare, in Nairobi, Kenya, August 13, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

Odinga, 72, a mainstay of the Kenyan opposition since the 1980s, has been silent since his loss was announced, but his party officials have said they will neither back down nor take their grievances to court.

"We will not be cowed, we will not relent," NASA official Johnson Muthama told reporters on Saturday.

In Nairobi's Mathare slum, shops and markets slowly began opening and there was no sign of police or protesters Sunday morning.

'Exercise restraint'

Muthama claimed that 100 people had been killed, without providing evidence.

The post-election violence is the worst since a disputed 2007 poll which Odinga claimed was stolen from him. That led to two months of protests and ethnic killings which left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.

Kenyan policemen walk during clashes with supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, in Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya, August 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Britain's Johnson urged Kenya's opposition to "exercise restraint" to ensure calm.

The European Union's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini urged the opposition "to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints."

Odinga, who lost his fourth shot at the presidency, in 2013 also disputed Kenyatta's poll victory, however, took his case to the Supreme Court where he lost.

"We have been there before. Court is not an alternative," said top NASA official James Orengo.

"Zero-sum game"

Kenyan media also urged Odinga to step up and address his supporters.

Supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga walk in front of a burned shack, in Kibera slum, in Nairobi, Kenya, August 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"NASA must direct its supporters to stand down, no matter how justified it feels that the presidential tally was rigged," wrote the Standard newspaper in an editorial, while slamming the police response to protests.

Interior Minister Fred Matiangi denied there had been any casualties or that "innocent protesters" had been killed, saying police had clamped down on "criminal elements" taking advantage of the tension to loot and rob.

Politics in Kenya is largely divided along tribal lines, and the winner-takes-all nature of elections has long stoked communal tensions.

A woman cries as she stands behind policemen during clashes between supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga and policemen in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, August 12, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Odinga's ethnic Luo supporters – and their allies from other groups – believe they have been denied political power by elites from the Kikuyus, the same ethnic group as Kenyatta, the country's biggest community.

"The reason elections have become a trigger for violence is the relationship between power and prosperity. It is a zero sum game and winning becomes a life-and-death matter, hence losing is not an option," wrote the Daily Nation in its editorial.

Source(s): AFP