International court case aided Kenyan candidate

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The charges Uhuru Kenyatta faces at the International Criminal Court would have crippled a U.S. or European politician.

Instead, the accusations that he orchestrated murder and rape in Kenya's 2007-08 postelection chaos, along with a cold shoulder from the West, may have helped propel Kenyatta to Kenya's presidency.

Kenyatta on Saturday was named the winner of Kenya's presidential election with 50.07 of the March 4 vote, just surpassing the 50-percent level needed to avoid a runoff. Final results showed him more than 800,000 votes ahead of his nearest rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Odinga is challenging the results, and officials from his party said Monday there's an effort to cover-up cheating that they say handed the election to Kenyatta. The officials said the election commission is ignoring their request to allow them to go through the voter register.

Kenyatta's outright win in a field of eight presidential candidates came despite the ICC charges, and in spite of warnings from the U.S. of "consequences" for the Kenya-U.S. relationship if Kenyatta wins, a sentiment echoed by Britain and some of Europe.

The feeling among many Kenyans is that Kenyatta's win may have come because of those charges and warnings.

"The ICC involvement definitely helped Kenyatta," said Francis Eshitemi, a loan officer in Nairobi who supported Odinga. "Kenyans did not like that. But it is still not a good picture of Kenya that a suspect is going to lead us."

William Ruto, Kenyatta's running mate, faces similar charges for aiding the 2007-08 violence, in which more than 1,000 people were killed in tribal clashes. Back then they supported rival candidates.

Kenyatta's tribe — the Kikuyus — and Ruto's tribe — the Kalenjins — were locked in battle after the 2007 election. In 2007 Ruto backed Odinga politically, and the ICC later accused Ruto of targeting Kikuyus in the Rift Valley. Kenyatta, who supported fellow then President Mwai Kibaki, a fellow Kikuyu, is accused of supporting criminals that organized revenge attacks against the Kalengin.

The ICC charges appeared to push Kenyatta and Ruto together this election, and their combined tribal voting blocs propelled them to a win. The charges by the court in the Netherlands allowed them to both claim persecution from the outside in an "us vs. the world" struggle.

"Without the ICC Uhuru and Ruto would not be running on the same ticket," said Haron Mburu, a taxi driver in Nairobi. "The ICC boosted Uhuru. Kenyans have always had this sympathy formula. Without the ICC charges I don't think Uhuru would have won."

In early February, President Barack Obama made a video urging Kenyans to reject election violence. He said if the country remained peaceful and continued its progress, Kenya would have a strong friend and partner in the U.S., a statement taken by the Kenyatta-Ruto camp as a positive sign for them despite the ICC charges.

But only two days later, Johnnie Carson, the top U.S. State Department official for Africa, held a news conference in which he repeated multiple times that there would be "consequences" if Kenyatta were to win.

Aly-Khan Satchu, an economist and analyst in Nairobi, said the ICC and statements by Carson and similar ones by EU countries were "the defining narrative of this election."

"It allowed Uhuru and Ruto to consolidate their base, to paint themselves as victims of an external conspiracy," Satchu said. "It allowed them to reach outside their base and plug into a very nationalistic, patriotic mood, asking people, 'Look, is this acceptable?'"

An editorial cartoon in the Daily Nation, Kenya's most respected newspaper, showed Kenyatta and Ruto wearing an ICC ball and chain Monday, but the two were kicking the lead-weight ball up in the air with broad smiles.

Even after the election, Kenyatta's and Ruto's team played up the image of outside powers maneuvering Kenyan politics. Their coalition accused the British high commissioner of "shadowy, suspicious and rather animated involvement" in election decisions, a broadside their base loves but one that further strains Kenyatta's relationship with Britain.

Odinga also suffered from an "O'' conspiracy. Most men from his tribe — the Luos — begin their last name with the letter O. Some Kenyans believed he was part of a plan by then-ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and even Obama to indict Kenyatta and make sure he didn't make it to the presidency.

The ICC on Monday dropped its case against Kenyan politician Francis Muthaura. That decision calls into question the case against Kenyatta, who was charged alongside Muthaura as a "co-perpetrator." But prosecutors say they have more evidence against Kenyatta than they did against Muthaura.

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Associated Press reporter Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands contributed to this report.

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Capriles to repeat as opposition candidate

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opposition leader Henrique Capriles says he will run in April 14 presidential elections to replace Hugo Chavez.

During Sunday night's announcement, he accused opponent Nicolas Maduro of using Chavez's corpse as a campaign prop. Maduro is Chavez's hand-picked successor.

Capriles said supporters told him the odds are so stacked against him that running against the Chavista machine would be like being dropped into a meat grinder.

Chavez died Tuesday after defeating the 40-year-old Capriles in October elections with 56 percent of the vote. Capriles won 44 percent of votes.

It was the opposition's best showing ever against Chavez during his 14-year rule.

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Kenya: Candidate calls for halt to tallying effort

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The political coalition led by Kenya's prime minister said Thursday that the vote tallying process now under way to determine the winner of the country's presidential election "lacks integrity" and should be stopped, as it alleged that some vote results have been doctored.

The statement by the coalition of Raila Odinga — one of two top presidential candidates — said the counting process should be restarted using primary documents from polling stations.

Kenya on Monday held its first national election since its 2007 vote sparked tribe-one-tribe attacks that killed more than 1,000 people. Minor protests have cropped up since Monday's vote, but no massive rioting or ethnic violence has occurred. But as more time passes without a final result, tensions are rising, sparking fears that the dam now holding back potential protests could break.

Though Odinga's party said it continues to call for "calm, tolerance and peace," its call for a halt to the vote count and allegations of vote rigging could agitate its supporters. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's running mate, said the announcement "is not a call to mass action."

Odinga's supporters in 2007 felt they had been cheated out of an election win over President Mwai Kibaki. Those supporters took to the streets, kicking off two months of clashes that, in addition to the ethnic violence, saw more than 400 deaths caused by police who were fighting protesters. A 2008 government report said the results were so tainted it was impossible to say who actually won.

Odinga faces Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta in this year's election. One of them must capture 50 percent of the vote in order to win; otherwise there is a runoff.

Officials on Thursday continued to add up votes from tally sheets that have been transported to the capital, results that are being played across all Kenyan TV screens. The partial results as early afternoon Thursday Kenya time showed Kenyatta with nearly 2.5 million votes to Odinga's nearly 2 million. Less than half of the vote had been tabulated.

Musyoka told a news conference that "we have evidence that the results we are receiving have actually been doctored." He then listed several voting districts where he said the total votes cast exceed the number of registered voters. Musyoka also said that Kenyan law requires that vote results be transmitted electronically from polling stations before transporting the results.

He said Odinga's party was exploring several options to stop the vote count, including getting a court injunction. The electronic tally that was to serve as a preliminary vote count and be available soon after the polls closed failed on Tuesday, leaving the country in a tense information vacuum late Tuesday and Wednesday.

One issue that arose Thursday was why rejected ballots are no longer reflected in the count in high numbers. When the preliminary count froze on Tuesday there was more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an important issue because of a legal fight that will be launched over whether those ballots should be counted in the overall vote total, thus making it harder for a candidate to reach 50 percent of the votes cast.

On Thursday, by contrast, official vote tallies showed a very low number of rejected votes, leading to questions about where they all went. The election commission was to hold a news conference later Thursday but had yet to make any statements as of mid-day.

Kenya is the lynchpin of East Africa's economy and plays a vital security role in the fight against Somali militants. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is the largest in Africa, indicating this country's importance to U.S. foreign policy.

The political battle between the families of Kenyatta and Odinga goes back to the 1960s and to the two candidates' fathers. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president after the end of British colonial rule. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga served as the country's first vice president then. The two later had a falling out.

If a runoff is declared for Odinga and Kenyatta, it would be most likely held in late April or early May, depending on how long legal challenges take.

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Kenya: Candidate wants tallying halt in close race

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's presidential race tightened late Thursday as new results pushed the leading candidate below the crucial 50 percent mark needed to win outright. A final result was expected Friday, but the close race and a troubled vote count are sparking fears of the kind of violence that ripped through the country after its last national election.

Tensions rose as the political coalition led by Kenya's prime minister, currently running in second, alleged that some vote results have been doctored and called for a stop to a tallying process it said "lacked integrity."

The statement by Raila Odinga's coalition said the counting process should be restarted using primary documents from polling stations, but the election commission insisted there was no way to doctor the results.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta had a small lead over Odinga as of late Thursday, though crucially Kenyatta for the first time slipped below the 50 percent threshold that would give him a clean win.

Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto face charges at the International Criminal Court for their alleged involvement directing postelection violence five years ago. The court announced Thursday that the start of Kenyatta's trial would be delayed from April until July.

Kenya's national vote on Monday was the first since the 2007 election sparked tribe-one-tribe attacks that killed more than 1,000 people. Minor protests have cropped up, but no massive rioting or ethnic violence has occurred. As more time passes without a final result, though, tensions are rising, sparking fears that the dam now holding back potential protests could break.

Though Odinga's party said it continues to urge "calm, tolerance and peace," its call for a halt to the vote count and allegations of vote rigging could agitate its supporters. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's running mate, said the announcement "is not a call to mass action."

Odinga's supporters in 2007 felt they had been cheated out of an election win over President Mwai Kibaki. Those supporters took to the streets, kicking off two months of clashes that, in addition to the ethnic violence, saw more than 400 deaths caused by police who were fighting protesters. A 2008 government report said the results were so tainted it was impossible to say who actually won.

The winner must capture 50 percent of the vote from the eight presidential candidates in order to win; otherwise there is a runoff.

Officials on Thursday continued to add up votes from tally sheets that have been transported to the capital, results that are being played across Kenyan TV screens. The partial results as of late Thursday in Kenya showed Kenyatta with about 3.5 million votes; Odinga had about 3.25 million. A little more than half of polling stations had been tabulated.

Musyoka told a news conference that "we have evidence that the results we are receiving have actually been doctored." He then listed several voting districts where he said the total votes cast exceed the number of registered voters. Musyoka also said that Kenyan law requires that vote results be transmitted electronically from polling stations before transporting the results.

The election commission chairman, Isaak Hassan, said later he has not seen any case where the total valid votes exceeds the number of registered voters.

Musyoka said Odinga's party was exploring several options to stop the vote count, including getting a court injunction. The electronic tally that was to serve as a preliminary vote count and be available soon after the polls closed failed on Tuesday, leaving the country in a tense information vacuum late Tuesday and Wednesday.

One issue that arose Thursday was why rejected ballots are no longer reflected in the count in high numbers. When the preliminary count froze on Tuesday there were more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an important issue because of a legal fight that will be launched over whether those ballots should be counted in the overall vote total, thus making it harder for a candidate to reach 50 percent of the votes cast.

Hassan said that the number of rejected ballots was incorrectly increased by a factor of eight because of a computer error.

On Thursday, by contrast, official vote tallies showed a very low number of rejected votes, leading to questions about where they all went. The election commission was to hold a news conference later Thursday but had yet to make any statements as of mid-day.

Kenya is the lynchpin of East Africa's economy and plays a vital security role in the fight against Somali militants. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is the largest in Africa, indicating this country's importance to U.S. foreign policy.

The political battle between the families of Kenyatta and Odinga goes back to the 1960s and to the two candidates' fathers. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president after the end of British colonial rule. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga served as the country's first vice president then. The two later had a falling out.

If a runoff is declared for Odinga and Kenyatta, it would be most likely held in late April or early May, depending on how long legal challenges take.

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Associated Press reporter Rodney Muhumuza in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

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