From the BBC:-
"Kenya is holding its breath as the blaring speakers of the election campaign cars finally fall silent ahead of Tuesday's vote.
Ten years ago there was terrible post-election ethnic violence in the country, which nobody here wants to see repeated. But with opinion polls predicting a very close race between incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, there are fears there could be trouble ahead.
What happens to Kenya is less about who wins the elections and more about how those who lose take their defeat. The success of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) computerised voting system is key to the process being considered free and fair.
If it fails - as it did in 2013 - the votes will be counted manually, and in a country where vote-rigging has been alleged in the past, the loser will no doubt challenge the result. In theory, the voting system is a good one:
- Electronic identity verification should not allow people to vote more than once or the many dead people on the roll to vote at all
- Results will be announced at the constituency level
- Published counts will be sent digitally to Nairobi to be added up
- Election observers will be at thousands of polling stations
But if the computer system goes down, verifying the voters' roll will be a lot harder, and may raise suspicions.
The murder of a key figure a week before the poll - the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) head of technology - has really put the country on edge. Chris Msando was in charge of the electronic system, and was the man who appeared on TV to reassure the public it would work - and couldn't be hacked. When his tortured, strangled body was found dumped in a forest, it raised suspicions that somebody was planning to interfere with the election."
If nobody wins more than 50% of the vote, then it will go to a second round. Whatever happens, this will be the last battle of the dynasties: Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president, against Raila Odinga, the son of its first vice-president and a man who also spent much of his political career in opposition."
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And in the Kenyan Daily Nation:-
"Mr Barack Obama particularly called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his main challenger Raila Odinga to ensure unity among Kenyans prevails regardless of the outcome. 'I have witnessed your remarkable progress and I'd like to return to see you fulfill your even more remarkable potential. This election is one more milestone for Kenya, and I urge President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga, and all other Kenyans to act with respect to the proverb: 'we have not inherited this land from our ancestors, we have borrowed it from our children.'
Mr Obama further said that for the nation to advance, Kenyans must embrace inclusive democracy by rejecting "politics of tribe and ethnicity". With the huge deployment of security forces across the country, he called on them to be impartial. On justice, he said polls petitions should be resolved amicably through the legal institutions and the rule of law.
More importantly, he encouraged Kenyans to think progressively. 'The choices you make in the coming days can either set Kenya back or bring it together. As a friend of the Kenyan people, I urge you to work for a future defined not by fear and division, but by unity and hope.' "
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