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AfricaPolitics

Kenya elections: Raila Odinga and William Ruto in tight race for president

Logistical delays and a failure of the identification kit in some parts of the country marred a largely peaceful election day in Kenya.

Polls are now officially closed but voting has been extended in places which opened late.

This vote follows an intense campaign dominated by debates about living costs, unemployment and corruption.

The frontrunners for president are ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga and current Deputy President William Ruto.

Kenyans were also electing a new parliament and local administrations.

The electoral commission is yet to announce the total turnout, but by 16:00 (13:00 GMT) – an hour before pols closed – just over 56% of the 22 million registered voters had cast their vote.

A top election official in Kenya’s central region of Nyeri told journalists that turnout has been low in that part of the country compared to 2017.

The counting of votes, which takes place at the polling stations, was expected to start soon after they closed with the collation of the presidential votes a priority.

Earlier, Mr Odinga was mobbed by supporters when he went to vote in Kibra – one of his strongholds in the capital, Nairobi.

He did not speak to the press, but his wife, Ida Odinga, said he was “upbeat about the election”.

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