Latest Update on Kenya Elections: Odinga’s Party Wins 3 Seats of 5; UPDATED 2X (Just Say No Deal)

FINAL ELECTION UDPATE: JUNE 13

The Daily Nation reports that:

ODM scooped three parliamentary seats as its main rival and grand coalition partner PNU snatched two in the Wednesday by-elections marred by violence and claims of rigging in some areas.

(SNIP)

The win increased ODM’s strength in Parliament to 103 and PNU’s to 48. ODM also suffered a major setback on Tuesday following the deaths of Bomet and Sotik MPs in a plane crash.

Now only Nairobi’s Kamukunji constituency is unrepresented in Parliament since last December’s General Election due to a court case.

It was on Tuesday joined by Sotik and Bomet following the deaths of Ms Lorna Laboso and Mr Kipkalya Kones respectively.

What it boils down to is that 3 seats remain empty, with 2 of them resulting from the deaths of two members from Odinga’s ODM. (I’m not sure which party the seat involved in the court case belongs to.)

The BBC has not followed up on this story with any additional information or analysis.

Original Post

The by-elections ended the fierce campaigns that had threatened the survival of the grand coalition government.

The BBC is reporting that Raila Odinga’s ODM party has won 3 of 5 seats in yesterday’s by-elections.

But. things aren’t quite settled yet:

The battle for parliamentary dominance is far from over, following the deaths of two ODM MPs on Tuesday in a plane crash.

The crash victims were members of Odinga’s party, so his ODM party’s power may increase after elections are held to replace them.

I will be updating with reports from the Kenyan press later in the day. I have some errands to do, so by the time I get back, maybe there will be more reports of interest.

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UPDATE 4:20 PM EDT

Although the voting was for the most part peaceful, voting boxes were tampered with in the Kilgoris constituency and voting had to be suspended. Also, there was some torching of houses and there is still tension there night of the election.

From the Daily Nation, Kenya:

The President also thanked the voters in the five constituencies for conducting themselves in a mature and orderly manner during the campaigns and on the polling day.

The Head of State looked forward to working closely with the newly elected MPs in the Grand Coalition Government.

The results of the by-elections have been favourable to PNU after wrestling the Embakasi seat from the rival ODM. Former area MP Mugabe Were was shot dead by unknown assailants as he approached the gate to his compound.

He was barely a month old into his five-year term.

On Wednesday night, 14 houses were torched and a car set ablaze in Kilgoris. The constituency remains tense.

An earlier report from the Daily Nation had described how at mob of “organised youth” had to be dispersed at the start of voting. There was no indication as to whether the mob was comprised of Odinga supporters or another group.

In Kilgoris, police had to shoot in the air several times to repulse some youths who had planned to disrupt the exercise.

There was tension at Keringan polling as shots were fired in the air, causing a stampede. Some voters caught in the fracas abandoned voting and left.

The polling station based at the troubled territory of Maasai and Kipsigis was temporarily stopped as security officers moved swiftly to combat the situation.

Area OCPD, Joshua Omukata said a group of organised youths had tried to disrupt the exercise.

However, they were repulsed by the security personnel who lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.

In the coming days, I’ll be checking for more details.

Just Say No Deal

Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lorna Laboso were killed a day before the by-elections.

No date has been set for the election of their replacements.