Pressure grows on Kenyan opposition to concede election defeat
August 13, 2017 by admin
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NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya was largely quiet on Sunday following violence in the aftermath of elections, as opposition leader Raila Odinga came under growing international pressure to concede defeat.
The election commission on Friday declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the presidential poll by 1.4 million votes. International observers said Tuesday’s election was largely fair but Odinga disputes the results, saying it was rigged. He has not provided documentary evidence.
There have been at least 24 deaths in election-related unrest, a rights group said on Saturday. But by Sunday the violence appeared to have largely abated, to the relief of Kenyans who feared a repeat of the violence that followed 2007′s disputed election.
Around 1,200 people were killed then and 600,000 displaced after Odinga called for political protests that sparked ethnic violence. Regional trade was paralyzed and Kenya’s economy – the region’s biggest – took years to recover.
This time, diplomats and regional leaders are urging Odinga, a former political prisoner, to concede. Their united stance leaves the 72-year-old opposition leader isolated if he chooses to maintain the allegations of election fraud and proclaim himself president.
He has not issued a public statement since Thursday but is due to address supporters in Nairobi’s biggest slum on Sunday afternoon. Party leaders speaking on his behalf continue to accuse the government of vote-rigging and covering up the murder of their supporters.
Kenya’s allies say the election was largely fair.
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“I want to congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta,” said a Sunday statement by Federica Mogherini, foreign minister for the European Union, which did over $3 billion worth of trade with Kenya last year.
“In line with the African Union, the EU expects the opposition to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints.”
NO POWER-SHARING DEALS
A Western diplomat said allies were not interested in revisiting the type of power-sharing deals that ended the post-election violence a decade ago. That avenue was “not an option”, he said.
“If you have evidence that the election was rigged, produce it … NASA has been changing its position in quite significant ways in the past week,” he said, referring to Odinga’s opposition coalition, the National Super Alliance.
“Most of the stuff they are alleging is not accurate.”
Initially, the coalition alleged the electoral server had been hacked, and produced 50 pages of computer logs that security experts said were inconclusive at best.
They later said a secret source within the electoral board had passed them the true election results. That two-page document was debunked by the election commission, who pointed out basic mathematical errors.
Later, Odinga said paper forms from each polling station scanned and uploaded to the election commission website to support its electronic tally were fake. He has not produced alternative forms.
Regional leaders have already congratulated Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of the country’s first president, on winning a second term.
“Congratulations my brother @UKenyatta for a successful election and the trust Kenyans have placed in you!” tweeted Rwandan president Paul Kagame. Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda have also sent congratulations.
There were some clashes between Odinga supporters and police on Saturday. Hospitals and morgues reported no new deaths.
In Kisumu, the western city that is Odinga’s heartland of support, some shops opened on Sunday and traffic was moving normally.
“Kisumu is calm … for now the whole region is calm and we are happy,” Leonard Katana, assistant inspector general of police for the western Nyanza region.
In Nairobi, residents of slum areas said the situation there was calm.
Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Kisumu; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Andrew Roche
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Kim Wall: Danish submarine was ‘deliberately sunk’
August 13, 2017 by admin
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Ritzau Foto
The pair were photographed just before departing on Thursday
Danish police believe that a submarine at the centre of an investigation into a missing Swedish journalist was deliberately sunk.
Kim Wall, 30, was last seen on Thursday evening on board the vessel with the owner, 46-year-old Peter Madsen.
The submarine later sank and Mr Madsen was rescued before being arrested and charged with manslaughter.
The stricken vessel, the Nautilus, has been raised but no body was found and the search for Ms Wall goes on.
Mr Madsen initially said that he dropped Ms Wall off before it sank but police say he has now changed his statement – although they have not said what to.
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Police gave no other information on why they thought the Nautilus was deliberately sunk, but it contradicts Mr Madsen’s explanation that there was a technical fault.
Mr Madsen has denied involvement in Ms Wall’s death, and will be held in custody for 24 days while investigations continue.
The submarine was first reported missing by Ms Wall’s boyfriend, after she failed to return from what should have been a short trip.
Ms Wall had been writing about Mr Madsen and his submarine, which at one stage was the largest privately-made vessel of its kind.
Police are still appealing for witnesses who may have seen Ms Wall on Thursday evening.
“We’re still hoping that we’ll find Kim Wall alive, but we are preparing ourselves for the fact that she may not be,” Copenhagen police homicide chief Jens Moller said.
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EPA
Peter Madsen (right) was rescued on Friday but Ms Wall is still unaccounted for