Kenya’s presidential race has tightened as Uhuru Kenyatta’s lead narrowed over his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, raising the prospect of a second-round run-off.
A final result was expected on Friday, but the close race and a troubled vote count are sparking fears of the kind of violence that ripped through the country after its last national election in 2007.
With just over a quarter of constituencies still to report results, Kenyatta, the deputy prime minister, was hovering around the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. As of 0545 GMT, Kenyatta had won 5.0 million votes compared to his rival Odinga’s 4.4 million out of 9.7 million ballots cast. If no candidate achieves 50 percent in the first round, the top two go to a run-off tentatively set for April. But the Kenyatta and Odinga camps have both raised questions about the vote process, so legal battles could push that date back.
Turnout was estimated by election officials at more than 70 percent of the 14.3 million eligible voters, who were undeterred by pockets of violence that killed at least 15 people.
