KENYA AWAITS ELECTION RESULTS !
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is ahead of President Mwai Kibaki in a hard fought election, according to partial and unofficial results.
In a setback for Mr Kibaki, 16 of his ministers lost their seats.
But Mr Kibaki's camp has said it can still win the presidential race, with the count taking longer than expected.
Despite isolated incidents of violence, international observers have said that the election was generally well organised and peaceful.
President Kibaki trails Mr Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) by around a million votes in the presidential contest with 50% of votes declared, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from Nairobi.
But he says many of these votes had not yet been officially approved.
Late on Friday, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had released results from just 46 of the country's 210 constituencies, with Mr Odinga leading by 1,143,353 votes to 831,458 for Mr Kibaki, Reuters news agency reported.
The ECK head, Samuel Kivuito, has said there were delays in voting and counting, and the process of compiling results was going slowly.
Unofficial and partial results from local TV stations gave Mr Odinga a commanding lead.
Not giving up
"It is true that the ODM is ahead, but it's only fair to wait until the last ballot is counted before we know the winner of the elections," said Ngari Gituku, a spokesman for Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).
"We are not going to lose hope until the last soldier is shot down and we have no intention of giving up until such a time," he told AFP news agency, adding that his party had evidence of widespread rigging.
At the polls: Reporters' log
Voters' views
Vote in pictures
In a setback for Mr Kibaki, 16 of his ministers lost their seats.
But Mr Kibaki's camp has said it can still win the presidential race, with the count taking longer than expected.
Despite isolated incidents of violence, international observers have said that the election was generally well organised and peaceful.
President Kibaki trails Mr Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) by around a million votes in the presidential contest with 50% of votes declared, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from Nairobi.
But he says many of these votes had not yet been officially approved.
Late on Friday, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had released results from just 46 of the country's 210 constituencies, with Mr Odinga leading by 1,143,353 votes to 831,458 for Mr Kibaki, Reuters news agency reported.
The ECK head, Samuel Kivuito, has said there were delays in voting and counting, and the process of compiling results was going slowly.
Unofficial and partial results from local TV stations gave Mr Odinga a commanding lead.
Not giving up
"It is true that the ODM is ahead, but it's only fair to wait until the last ballot is counted before we know the winner of the elections," said Ngari Gituku, a spokesman for Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).
"We are not going to lose hope until the last soldier is shot down and we have no intention of giving up until such a time," he told AFP news agency, adding that his party had evidence of widespread rigging.
At the polls: Reporters' log
Voters' views
Vote in pictures
Mr Odinga's ODM has in turn accused the electoral commission of deliberately delaying the results, and now says Mr Kibaki should concede.
"Kibaki seems to be going out in a very untidy manner and really is not being respectful or grateful to the democratic process that put him in power," said ODM official Anyang Ngong.
ODM General Secretary Joseph Nyaga said the delay threatened to cause instability and unrest right across the country.
Police Commissioner Hussein Ali has urged poll losers to respect the outcome.
High turnout
A spokesman for the ECK told the BBC that turnout had perhaps been more than 70%, from an electorate of 14m.
Early results show that a majority of MPs have lost their seats.
Kibaki: Dream or nightmare?
Odinga: King-maker
Kenyan parliamentarians had gained notoriety in the past five years for arbitrarily increasing their salaries and allowances while a majority of Kenyans continue to grapple with meagre wages and a high cost of living, says the BBC's Josphat Makori in Nairobi.
At least 16 cabinet ministers from Mr Kibaki's PNU also fell in the parliamentary elections.
Among them was Vice-President Moody Awori, who lost his seat to arch-rival Dr Paul Otuoma of the Orange Democratic Movement.
Also significant is the fall of three sons of retired president Daniel Arap Moi in three different constituencies in the Rift Valley province.
Mr Moi has helped fund Mr Kibaki's campaign.
Fraud accusation
Mr Odinga, who fell out with Mr Kibaki shortly after helping him to win the presidency in 2002, alleged fraud before the polls opened.
Mr Odinga was at first not allowed to vote on the grounds that his name was not on the voters' roll, though he did cast his ballot later in the day.
The president has denied involvement in any election fraud.
Correspondents say that in Kenya's previous elections, the outcome has been obvious before polling, or at least there has been a strong favourite.
President Kibaki hopes his economic record will secure a second term.
Mr Kibaki's critics accuse him of failing to keep his promise to tackle corruption.
There were six other candidates in the presidential elections besides Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga.
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