Opposition claims victory as ethnic clashes erupt following rigging allegations
From Steve Bloomfield in Nairobi

VIOLENT clashes broke out across Kenya yesterday as voters took to the streets angry at delays in announcing the results of the country's closest-ever presidential election, amid allegations of widespread ballot-rigging.

The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) claimed their candidate, the former political prisoner Raila Odinga, had won Thursday's poll and called on President Mwai Kibaki to concede. "The will of the Kenyan people is now known," said Musalia Mudavadi, Odinga's running mate. "This delay is sending extremely dangerous signals across the country."

Official results from 159 of the 210 constituencies gave Odinga a lead of 4%. But the ECK, Kenya's electoral commission, was unable to announce final results because almost a quarter of the returning officers could not be reached. "When we try to ring those places we find their telephones are switched off," said ECK head Samuel Kivuitu. "If we don't get the results quickly, we will have to announce what we have."

The delays are unprecedented. At the last election in 2002 the result was called within 24 hours of polls closing.

Most of the constituencies which have yet to be called are in the Central and Eastern provinces, the heartlands of Kibaki's support. In a handful of constituencies in Central the turnout for the presidential election was 20% higher than for the parliamentary poll. Some were reporting a turnout of 99%. "It's just not credible," said one diplomat.

Unconfirmed reports suggested Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) would pull ahead once votes from the disputed constituencies were counted.

The president appointed 19 of the 21 electoral commissioners earlier this year, sparking accusations from the opposition that he was trying to fix the election. One of the new commissioners is Kibaki's personal lawyer. Only after a long campaign by civil society groups did Kibaki re-appoint Kivuitu, the independent-minded chairman.

Kivuitu was yesterday called to Kibaki's residence, State House, raising fears from the opposition and international election observers that the PNU was putting undue pressure on ECK.

As the delays continued, ethnic violence flared up across the country. In Kibera, a sprawling Nairobi slum where Odinga commands large support, youths from his Luo tribe fought with gangs of young Kikuyus, the tribe of Kibaki.

Young men lit bonfires in Kisumu, a Luo stronghold on the shores of Lake Victoria, while tensions were also high in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa. Riots were reported in several other regions.

In Naivasha, trucks delivering cut flowers to Nairobi to be flown to the UK were turned back after hundreds of people armed with sticks blocked the roads.

Armed police, some on horseback, roamed the deserted streets of Nairobi as shops, supermarkets and malls closed for fear of violence.

Kenya is one of the most stable countries in Africa. Despite ongoing tensions between its 40 tribes, it has never spilled over into civil war. However, it was a de facto one-party state until 2002, when Kibaki ousted the hand-picked successor of Daniel arap Moi - president since 1978 - in Kenya's first truly democratic election.

If Kibaki is defeated it will be the first time in Kenya that a sitting president has been ousted at the ballot box, something that has happened in only two other African countries, Senegal and Zambia.

Most of the political old guard have already been swept from power in this election. At least 16 cabinet ministers lost their seats, many of them "Mzees" - old men who have dominated politics in Kenya since independence in 1963. They included the 80-year-old vice-president Moody Awori, defence minister James Njenga Karume, 78, and roads minister Simon Nyachae, 75.

Ministers linked to high-profile corruption cases also lost, including former finance minister David Mwiraria, who was last week banned from visiting the UK due to graft allegations.

Close allies of Moi also lost, including influential businessman Nicholas Biwott and Moi's sons Gideon, Raymond and Jonathan. Biwott and Gideon Moi have been accused of massive corruption during Moi's time in office.

Nobel peace prize laureate Wangari Maathai was another to lose her seat. Though lauded abroad, Maathai's global travels meant she was rarely seen in parliament or her constituency.

Kenyans have been gripped with election fever for months. As the votes have been counted ordinary Kenyans have been glued to their televisions and radios, which have been reporting around-the-clock election news.