NAIROBI, Kenya �� An uneasy calm prevailed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and the west of the country Saturday after two days of battles between security forces and supporters of the main opposition, which boycotted a court-ordered repeat of the presidential election.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the election, which was held Thursday, after the electoral commission rejected his demands to replace staff who oversaw an Aug. 8 vote that the Supreme Court annulled because proper procedures weren't followed. Voting was disrupted in several opposition strongholds as his supporters barricaded roads and hurled stones at police, who responded by firing tear gas and live ammunition. At least eight people were killed, local newspapers reported.
"Today is calm, we have no big problems," said Leonard Katana, police commander for the western Nyanza region, where violence forced the delay of election in four districts. "We are slowly going back to normal."
While preliminary tallies showed President Uhuru Kenyatta on track to win 98 percent of the vote, Odinga has rejected the results and called for new elections within 90 days.
Even if Kenyatta does hold onto office for a second term, he'll face a challenge in asserting his authority and rebuilding battered investor confidence, given that less than half of registered voters cast ballots and no voting occurred at 3,635 of the 40,883 polling stations. There was a 79 percent turnout in the August election.
Odinga's four-party National Super Alliance will announce what it plans do next on Monday, and has urged its supporters to show restraint. The opposition has previously said it wouldn't challenge the election outcome in court and it would instead embark on a peaceful defiance campaign.
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(David Herbling, Paul Richardson and Samuel Gebre contributed to this report.)
