Kenyan Polls Close in Tight Presidential Vote

Polls have closed in Kenya after long lines of voters cast their ballots in a tightly contested presidential election, with results expected within 24 to 48 hours.

RELATED:
Kenya's High Court Orders Parliament to Enforce Gender Quota

Kenyans chose between incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta and longtime rival, Raila Odinga.

Kenyatta – who has been in office since 2013 – has the support of the majority of Kikuyu and Kalenjin people, while Odinga – former prime minister from 2008 to 2013 – is popular among the Luo, Luhya and Kamba people.

According to election law, the winner must secure more than 50 percent of the votes as well as one-quarter or more votes in at least 24 of the country’s 47 counties.

More than 19 million Kenyans – more than half are under the age of 35 – were eligible to vote at the over 40,000 polling stations.

Voters were observed forming queues, outside the polling stations, long before the process was set to get underway at 6:00 a.m., local time.

Forty-three-year-old security guard and father of four, Aggrey Mwelesa, told Al Jazeera, "The exercise was smooth. Very calm. I came to the polling station at 2 a.m."

Another voter, Alice Waithaka – a 35-year-old mother of two – said that she had been there since 4 a.m. and did not experience any problems.

Kenyatta's victory in 2013 came by a small margin, occasioning Odinga to level vote-tampering allegations against him in a case which was brought before Kenya’s highest court, which upheld the result.

The incumbent addressed the nation Monday night, calling on citizens to vote “in peace.”

Kenya has the second biggest economy in East Africa, but Kenyatta has faced harsh criticism for soaring food prices, and corruption scandals throughout his tenure.

Kenyatta is promising to create more than one million new jobs in the country and reduce the cost of living. About 47 percent of the 48 million population live below the poverty line.

Odinga, on the other hand, is promising to create jobs for young people, make the country food secure and fight corruption. Transparency International ranked Kenya 145 out of 176 in its 2016 corruption index.