Kenya election opens in tight race as Raila Odinga seeks another shot at the presidency

Hundreds line up to vote in an unusual election in which the outgoing president is backing the opposition leader instead of his own deputy, who has styled himself as the outsider

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  A man looks for names on voting registers posted outside Kilimani Primary School polling station in Nairobi, Kenya. Getty

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  Voters queue while waiting for polls to open during Kenya's general election in the informal settlement of Mathare in Nairobi. AFP

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  Voters check their names on an electoral roll in Nairobi. AFP

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  An election official holds up a ballot box to show that it is empty before polls open in Kibera. AFP

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  Maasai voters queue to take part in Kenya's general election in Kajiado. AFP

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  Kenya's Deputy President and presidential candidate of the Kenya First political party coalition William Ruto, centre, casts his ballot at a polling station in Sugoi, near Eldoret. AFP

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  A Maasai man casts his ballot during Kenya's general election in Kajiado. AFP

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  People line up to vote at the Oltepesi Primary School, Kajiado County in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Kenyans are voting to choose between opposition leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta after a decade in power. (AP Photo / Ben Curtis)

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  A voter takes part in the general election at Kosachei Primary School. Reuters

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  People line up to cast their vote at Kosachei Primary School. Reuters

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  An election official marks the hand of a voter at the Kibera primary school in Nairobi. AP

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  People line up to vote at the Kibera primary school in Nairobi. AP

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  A voter verifies his ballot papers at the Old Kibera Primary School polling station in Kibera. AFP

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  People look for their names on voting registers posted outside Kibera Primary School in Nairobi. Getty

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  Men watch live news aired on a public projector on the eve of the elections in the centre of Kibera informal settlement. Getty

Polls opened on Tuesday in Kenya’s unusual presidential election, where a longtime opposition leader who is backed by the outgoing president faces the deputy president who styles himself as the outsider.

The election is considered to be a close race and East Africa’s economic centre could have a presidential run-off for the first time. Hundreds of voters lined up hours before polls opened in some locations.

The top candidates are Raila Odinga, who has vied for the presidency for a quarter of a century, and Deputy President William Ruto, who has stressed his journey from a humble childhood to appeal to millions of struggling Kenyans long accustomed to political dynasties.

“In moments like this is when the mighty and the powerful come to the realisation that it is the simple and the ordinary that eventually make the choice,” a smiling Mr Ruto told journalists after becoming one of the first voters. “I look forward to our victorious day.”

Kenya's Deputy President and presidential candidate William Ruto casts his vote during the general elections. Reuters

He urged Kenyans to be peaceful and respect others’ choices.

More than 22 million people are registered to vote in this election in which economic issues could be of greater importance than the ethnic tension that has marked past votes with sometimes deadly results.

Outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president, cut across the usual ethnic lines by backing longtime rival Mr Odinga after their bitter 2017 election contest.

However, both Mr Odinga and Mr Ruto have chosen running mates from the country’s largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu.

Mr Odinga has made history by choosing running mate Martha Karua, the first woman to be a leading contender for the deputy presidency.

Raila Odinga's running mate Martha Karua attends a campaign rally in Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu. AFP

“Make your voice heard,” she said after voting early in a knitted cap, a sign of the unusually cold weather in parts of the country.

Rising food and fuel prices, huge government debt, high unemployment and widespread corruption mean economic issues are at the centre of an election in which unregulated campaign spending highlighted the country’s inequality.

Kenyans are hoping for a peaceful vote. Elections can be exceptionally troubled, as in 2007 when the country exploded after Mr Odinga claimed the vote had been stolen from him and more than 1,000 people were killed.

In 2017, the high court overturned the election results, a first in Africa, after Mr Odinga challenged them over irregularities.

He then boycotted the new vote and proclaimed himself the “people’s president,” bringing allegations of treason. A handshake between him and Mr Kenyatta calmed the crisis.

This could be Mr Odinga’s last try, at the age of 77, and Kenyans and election observers will be watching to see how his often passionate supporters react to the results and any allegations of rigging.

Official results must be announced within a week of the election but impatience is expected if they don’t come before this weekend. The underfunded Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is under pressure to ensure an untroubled vote.