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Kenyans troop to Polling Stations to Vote new President
Millions troop to the 40,000 polling stations across the country as the people of Kenya decide who their next president will be.
Officials and politicians have called for calm in what is mainly a contest between sitting president Uhuru Kenyatta 55 and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga 72.
The two had contested in 2013, Uhuru beating Raila who was contesting for the third time with 50.7% of total votes.
Queues at the polling station formed very early in the morning, with voters arriving at 2 a.m. in some.
According to Guardian, over 180,000 security officials have been deployed to keep the peace in areas where tensions are high.
Uhuru Kenyatta had addressed the nation on Monday night, calling for calm. He also shared a tweet, saying:
Shake their hand, share a meal and tell them ‘let us wait for the results’ for Kenya will be here long after this general election
Former United States president Barack Obama, whose father is from Kenya, had also released a statement urging Kenyan leaders to reject violence and incitement.
He asked that any disputes around the election should be resolved peacefully, through the rule of law.
If Uhuru does win, this will be his final term as president. For Raila, this is the fourth time he is contesting, and maybe his last.
To win the election, a candidate must win 50% + 1 of the votes, as well as 25% in at least 24 of 47 counties.
Photo Credit: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images