A spike in tensions between China and the United States over Taiwan has not gone unnoticed in Africa and has prompted responses that underscore the continent’s tilt toward Beijing.

The U.S. announced trade talks with Taiwan on Thursday following a U.S. congressional delegation’s visit earlier this week that came on the heels of a controversial trip to the self-governing island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Washington’s recent interactions with Taipei have infuriated Beijing, leading to Chinese military drills in the seas around the island.

Most countries in Africa have sided with China.

During Pelosi’s visit, officials from several African countries condemned the U.S. and publicly supported China. The government of Eritrea deplored Pelosi’s visit as a “reckless” continuation of U.S. policies marked by “flaws and follies.”

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party also attacked the U.S. for “aggressive conduct” following Pelosi’s visit, with spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa saying: “It is cardinal postulate of international diplomacy that there is one China and Taiwan is an integral part of mainland China.”

The foreign minister of the Republic of Congo, meanwhile, expressed firm support for the one-China policy.

Chinese state media were quick to publicize such support from African governments with an article in the China Daily headlined: “Africans see through US ploy in Pelosi visit.”

Another article on CGTN listed all the Africa officials who’d sided with Beijing.

Root of China-Taiwan dispute

The dispute between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan stems from the Chinese civil war in the 1940s when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government lost to Mao Zedong’s Communists on the Chinese mainland and rebased on the island of Taiwan, also called the Republic of China (ROC).

Beijing considers democratically ruled Taiwan a breakaway province — to be retaken with force if necessary.

In 1979, the U.S. cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and switched its diplomatic recognition to China. Although the U.S. sells weapons to Taiwan, Washington has formal ties with China, not Taiwan, which is why the visit by Pelosi, a high-level U.S. lawmaker, caused a political storm in Beijing.

For most of the 1960s, Taiwan was more influential than China in Africa, but that changed in 1971 when the U.N. General Assembly affirmed China’s place on the body and denied Taiwan a role — with a majority of African states voting with China.

Since President Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, came to Africa along with Chinese loans and investments, more countries have switched ties to Beijing, with Burkina Faso — the second-to-last supporter of Taiwan on the continent — choosing to sever ties with Taipei in 2018.

“Gradually, recognition of Taipei over the last two decades has eroded away,” Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at think tank Chatham House, told VOA. “There are no signs of African countries switching back to Taiwan. Years ago, there was some flip flopping — no sign of that these days.”

In the latest spat between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, most African nations stand firmly with Beijing, loathe to alienate the world’s second-largest economy and Africa’s largest trade partner.

Somalia, which has its own problems with the breakaway region of Somaliland, was one of the countries that came out strongly on China’s side during Pelosi’s visit.

Outliers supporting Taiwan

The two outliers on the African continent that continue to support Taiwan are the also-unrecognized Somaliland and Eswatini.

The autonomous area of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa is internationally considered part of Somalia despite having unilaterally declared independence in 1991.

It is clear why Somaliland has chosen to side with Taiwan, said Cobus van Staden, senior China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute for International Affairs.

“It’s a direct play into U.S.-China geopolitics … in order to move a separatist cause forward,” he said.

The only recognized state that now supports Taiwan in Africa is Eswatini, an autocratic absolute monarchy formerly known as Swaziland that borders South Africa.

Contacted by VOA about the kingdom’s continued support for Taiwan, Percy Simelane, director of communications for the office of King Mswati III, wrote: “Our diplomatic relations with Taiwan are our sovereign choice and are based on national interest. To us might and wrath can never be larger than our national interest. We refuse to be part of any continental capture.”

Asked to comment on Pelosi’s Taiwan visit specifically, he demurred, saying Eswatini did not wish to be mistaken for “political referees.”

“We elect to play our cards closer to the chest on Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan lest we are mistaken for what we are not,” he said.

Chatham House’s Vines said Eswatini has long benefitted economically from its loyalty to Taipei.

“King Mswati III clearly believes that Taiwan will reward Eswatini more handsomely than Beijing and make few if any demands in return,” he said.

Sanele Sibiya, an economics lecturer at the University of Eswatini, echoed this, saying Taiwan provides a huge amount of aid to the kingdom — including funds for hospitals and educational scholarships —and, unlike Chinese loans, does not ask for anything to be paid back.

Meanwhile, despite Taiwan being a democracy, it is essentially propping up an increasingly unpopular regime. Large pro-democracy protests broke out in Eswatini last year.

“Taiwan has not said much when it comes to the democratization of Eswatini, because they cannot afford to eliminate Eswatini right now,” said Sibiya.

In terms of China punishing Eswatini for its allegiance, Sibiya said there’s a belief in Eswatini that Taiwan would always “pick up the slack.” And anyway, he said, neighboring South Africa is by far the country’s most important trade partner.

However, as a lot of the diplomatic ties hang on the personal relationship between the king and the Taiwanese government, “in a post-king moment Eswatini may well switch,” van Staden told VOA.
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Tigrayan forces have warned of renewed conflict in northern Ethiopia, accusing federal forces of firing on their positions this week, despite a months-long cease-fire. The office of the prime minister dismissed the allegation and said it was aimed at deflecting efforts to engage in peace talks.

After rumors swirled that fighting had broken out between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the national government, TPLF spokeswoman Fesseha Asghedom Tessema told VOA that bombings took place in several areas.

“The Addis Ababa government has started bombing Tigray forces on different fronts beginning yesterday,” she said. “Therefore, I don’t see any progress towards any peaceful resolution; in fact, it looks like we are back to zero.”

The TPLF made similar comments in a written statement that accused the government of declaring war on the people of Tigray and committing genocide.

Asked to respond to TPLF claims of provocation by national forces, government spokesperson Billene Seyoum denied the accusation at a press briefing.

“This narrative and this rhetoric that keeps coming from the other side is no less than a mechanism to deflect from the desire not to engage in a peaceful manner,” Seyoum said. “But the humanitarian truce that had been enacted by the federal government is still in place.”

The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

If the claims of an attack are true, it would mark the end of the humanitarian cease-fire established in March between the two sides. The Ethiopian government had also been indicating peace talks with the TPLF might be imminent.

The TPLF has said repeatedly that talks will not go ahead until a humanitarian blockade, which the United Nations said has likely left parts of Tigray in a state of famine, is lifted.

William Davison, an analyst for Belgium-based research organization International Crisis Group, offered his assessment of the situation.

“This report of a skirmish from the Tigrayan side of a skirmish is worrying, it’s the first in a while,” he said. “At the moment the calculations seem to remain in place that the parties are going to pursue a negotiated solution, but certainly the situation remains highly volatile.”

In November 2020, the government launched a military offensive in Tigray in response to attacks by the TPLF.

An estimated 5.1 million people were displaced by the conflict in 2021. Ghent University in Belgium said up to a half million people have died because of the conflict, either in fighting or as a result of the humanitarian crisis it has caused.
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At least 26 people died and dozens of others were injured in forest fires that ravaged 14 districts of northern Algeria on Wednesday, the interior minister said. 

Kamel Beldjoud told state television that 24 people died in fires in El Tarf, near the border with Tunisia, and two others died earlier in Setif. 

The civil protection agency in Setif had said that two women, “a 58-year-old mother and her 31-year-old daughter,” were killed in the town. 

In Souk Ahras, farther to the east near Algeria’s border with Tunisia, people were seen fleeing their homes as fires spread before firefighting helicopters were deployed. 

An earlier update said four people in Souk Ahras suffered burns and 41 others had breathing difficulties, the authorities said. Media reports said 350 residents had been evacuated. 

No current figures were given on the number of people injured in the fires in other areas. 

The police have closed several roads as a result of the fires. 

“Thirty-nine fires are underway in 14 wilayas [administrative councils],” the civil protection agency said, noting that El Tarf was the worst hit, with 16 fires in progress. 

Helicopters used buckets to drop water on fires in three wilayas, including Souk Ahras. 

Since the start of August, 106 fires have broken out in Algeria, destroying more than 2,500 hectares of woodland. 

Beldjoud said some of the fires were started by people. 

Wednesday’s toll brought the total number of people killed in wildfires this summer to 30. 

Algeria has 4.1 million hectares (10.1 million acres) of forest. Each year the northern part of the country is affected by forest fires, a problem that has worsened because of climate change. 

Last year, at least 90 people died in forest fires that ravaged northern Algeria, destroying more than 100,000 hectares of woodland.
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About 9,000 Tigrayans inhabiting camps for displaced people in the city of Semera, Ethiopia, are being allowed to return to their hometown of Abala, the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced Tuesday. 

 

A report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in June found that many people in the camps were being held against their will. It said they were rounded up and forcibly removed from Abala in December because of their Tigrayan ethnicity, when fighting broke out between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front and Afar regional forces. 

 

In June, VOA visited the two camps in Semera and spoke with people who said they were being held against their will.   

 

Many were told by authorities they were being held in the camp “for their own security” as TPLF attacked and occupied Abala. 

 

One of the people still living in the Semera camp, whose name VOA has withheld for his security, told VOA that nine buses returned people to Abala on Tuesday. He said that since the EHRC report, officials from various offices spoke with them about returning to Abala.

A committee from the camp was allowed to visit Abala to observe the situation for returnees, he said, adding, “The people there told us the security is fine and we met with elders in Abala who endorsed our return.”

The TPLF left Abala in late April. 

 

Asked why it had taken until now for inhabitants of the camps to be cleared for return to Abala, Yibekal Gizaw Agonafir from the EHRC told VOA: “The regional state has been working with traditional and religious leaders, primarily from Abala, to ensure that reconciliation happens, before these IDPs are able to return to their place of residence in Abala. This was deemed necessary by the regional state, because there was a lot of tension that was created because of the conflict, and either real or perceived participation or affiliation of these IDPS with the conflict.” 

Asked the same question, Michel Saad of OCHA said lack of basic services in Abala hindered their return. 

 

“We have to keep in mind that in many of these places the basic services … have not been functional or are still not functional,” Saad said. “Returning them was not a feasible or viable option until now.” 

According to the U.N., there is no access to electricity, water or health facilities in Abala. 

 
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Despite a nationwide vaccination campaign that started in May, Malawi is struggling to contain a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 1,073 people and caused 44 deaths. 

The figures from the Malawi Ministry of Health, updated as of Aug. 16, 2022, are triple the numbers recorded when the vaccination campaign was launched three months ago. 

 

The report also says the outbreak has spread to 10 districts from eight in May. The hardest hit districts include Blantyre with 489 cases, Neno with 128 cases, and Nsanje with 289 cases.  

 

George Mbotwa, spokesperson for a health office in Nsanje district, which borders Mozambique south of Malawi, said continued incidents of cholera in the district are largely because of movements of people between the two countries. 

 

“What is worrisome is that we have now continued to record the cases when by now we would have contained the situation,” he said. “It’s because some of these cases we are sharing with Mozambique. So, the cases will be coming from Mozambique and then reporting to health facilities in Nsanje, then being recorded as Nsanje cases.”

Mbotwa said the situation is slowly improving, after officials on the Mozambican side agreed during recent discussions to set up cholera treatment sites on their side of the border.  

“The Mozambican side by then didn’t have cholera treatment sites, and now they have them there, so people are able to report the cases right there, unlike coming with cases to Malawi,” he said. 

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. The disease affects both children and adults, and if untreated, it can kill within hours.  

 

Penjani Chunda, environmental health officer in Blantyre, said although Blantyre is largely an urban area, cholera cases are on the rise because most people fetch water from unprotected sources like rivers and streams. 

 

“In most parts of Blantyre, we don’t have portable water sources,” he said. “It might be like an urban setup, but it has no portable water sources, and we have got dry taps in some of the areas and [water] kiosks are not working at all.”  

The spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Adrian Chikumbe, said health authorities are currently distributing chlorine for water treatment, and providing public education on good hygiene.  

 

Chikumbe also hopes the second phase of the national oral cholera vaccination campaign, which is expected to start soon in the most-hit districts, will help contain the situation.     

 
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The runner-up in Kenya’s just-concluded presidential election has rejected the result, saying the announcement of the winner was illegal. Raila Odinga cited a split in the electoral commission and the chairman’s failure to explain how he came up with the final numbers.

Addressing elected governors, members of parliament and politicians allied to his Azimio Coalition, Raila Odinga on Tuesday rejected the presidential results.

“The figures announced by Chebukati are null and void and must be couched by a court of law,” Odinga said. “In our view there is neither a legally, validly declared winner nor a president-elect. Mr. Chebukati’s announcement purporting to announce a winner is a nullity.”

Odinga said the head of the electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati, did not follow the constitution and the electoral law when declaring the winner.

Chebukati on Monday declared William Ruto as Kenya’s president-elect, saying Ruto won 7.1 million votes, while Odinga got 6.9 million.

The chair’s decision to announce the winner over their objections angered the majority of the commissioners, including his deputy.

The vice chair of the commission Juliana Cherera said Tuesday the tallying process was not transparent.

“The tallying phase at the end, that there was opaqueness things were not being shown to the public,” Cherera said. “You’ve been there even at Bomas and the screens were supposed to show accumulative numbers of the presidential candidates’ votes as the garnered, as we continued to read the results, the same was not displayed to the public. And the same was not given to the commissioners, just like the public was not aware. The same, the commissioners were not aware.”

Cherera said the numbers did not add up.

“This summation gives us a total of 100.01 percent. The 0.01 percent translates to approximately 142,000 votes which will make a significant difference in the final results,” Cherera said. “We, therefore, decline to take ownership of the said results because the aggregation resulted in a total exceeding the percentage of 100 which cast doubt on the accuracy of the source of figures.”

It was not clear if Cherea misspoke, as 0.01 percent would translate to only 1,420 votes.

The election dispute has raised fears Kenya may see violence of the kind that has happened after other elections.  

On Monday, the body of election presiding officers who went missing last week was found in Kajiado County.  

Odinga on Tuesday called for calm and said his team will go through legal means to address their dissatisfaction with the election outcome.  

“I want to commend our supporters for remaining calm and keeping the peace and urge them to continue to do so. Let no one take the law into their own hands,” Odinga said. “We are passing through lawful and constitutional processes to invalidate Mr. Chebukati’s illegal and unconstitutional pronouncement. We are certain that justice will prevail.”

Odinga has until Sunday to lodge his case at the Supreme Court, which could take up to two weeks to give a final verdict.

Last week’s election was the former prime minister’s fifth attempt to win the presidency.
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Former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga has rejected official results that show him losing last week’s presidential election.

In a televised statement Tuesday, Odinga said the results announced by the head of Kenya’s electoral commission are “null and void.”

“In our view, there is neither a legally, validly declared winner nor a president-elect,” Odinga said.

The head of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said Monday that William Ruto won a first-round victory in the August 9 election, getting just over 50 percent of the vote.

He said Odinga ran a close second with just under 49 percent.

The announcement was enmeshed in controversy even before it was made, as four of the seven members on the electoral commission disowned the result. The vice chair of the commission said the vote counting process was “too opaque.”
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The European Union is planning a five-fold increase in financial support to an African military mission in Mozambique, an internal EU document shows, as Islamist attacks threaten gas projects meant to reduce the EU’s reliance on Russian energy.

The energy squeeze due to the Ukraine war has added impetus to Europe’s scramble for gas off Mozambique’s northern coast, where Western oil firms are planning to build a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

The move also comes as the West seeks to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the southern African nation, three years after Russian private military firm Wagner withdrew most of its forces following a string of defeats by Islamist militants.

Mozambique has been grappling with militants linked to the Islamic State in its northernmost gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, near LNG projects worth billions of dollars.

A southern African military mission and a separate intervention by troops from Rwanda have between them managed to contain the militants’ spread since being deployed last year.

But “the situation remains very volatile and smaller-scale violent attacks have continued in various districts,” the EU document dated Aug. 10 said.

The paper prepared by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s de facto foreign ministry, recommends 15 million euros ($15.3 million) of EU funding to 2024 for the mission of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC), a bloc of 16 African nations of which half a dozen sent troops to Mozambique.

The mission is expected to be extended for six or twelve months at a SADC summit in Kinshasa starting on Wednesday, according to the document, which adds that EU support for the Rwandan mission would also be proposed in the coming months.

An EU spokesperson confirmed additional financial support to the SADC mission had been proposed, but declined to comment further as the matter was still being discussed by EU governments.

The proposal needs the backing of the 27 EU governments, whose military experts are scheduled to hold a regular meeting on Aug. 25.

A SADC official also confirmed a request for EU support, but added SADC countries would continue to provide key financial support to the mission.

French oil giant Total TTEF.PA is leading an international consortium to extract gas off north Mozambique’s shores and liquefy it at an LNG plant under construction, from where it would be exported to Europe and Asia.

Gas projects threatened

Mozambique has the third largest proven gas reserves in Africa, after Nigeria and Algeria. The EU fears that without support for the military interventions, Mozambique may again lose control of its restive north.

The Islamists have recently stepped up attacks.

The EU has already pledged to provide the country’s army with an additional 45 million euros ($45 million) of financial support, and has so far made available to the SADC mission 2.9 million euros of funding.

The fresh EU support would be limited to “equipment not designed to deliver lethal force,” including radars, mine detectors, boats and medical supplies, the EU document said, in spite of SADC’s needs for lethal material.

Despite delays caused by militant activity, Total still plans to begin production in 2024 from gas reserves estimated in trillions of cubic feet (tcf), more than the amount of gas the EU imports annually from Russia.

Italian oil firm ENI ENI.MI expects to begin shipments from a nearby offshore gas field this year, using a floating LNG terminal which can process only limited amounts of gas.

Other major oil firms, including U.S. giant ExxonMobil XOM.N are also operating in the region.

The funding is also meant to discourage local authorities from seeking help again from Russia, or from China.

The EU is also supporting the training of Mozambique military forces through its own defense mission in the country.
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The United States imposed sanctions on three Liberian government officials, including President George Weah’s chief of staff, for what it says is their ongoing involvement in public corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday.

The sanctions target Weah’s Chief of Staff Nathaniel McGill, Liberia’s Chief Prosecutor Sayma Syrenius Cephus and Bill Twehway, the managing director of the National Port Authority.

“Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The designations “demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people,” he said.

McGill, Cephus and Twehway are being designated as foreign government officials who allegedly engaged in corruption including the misappropriation of state assets, taking private assets for personal gain, or bribery, according to the statement.

Under the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the three officials that are in the United States must be blocked and reported to Treasury, while people who engage in transactions with the officials may be subject to sanctions themselves, the statement said.
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Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, says thieves and vandals cost the country up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day – that’s billions of dollars in lost revenue. To combat the problem, Nigerian oil authorities have launched a mobile app for reporting the incidents and rewarding those who do.

The launch of the crude oil theft monitoring app took place last Friday in Abuja, during the signing of renewed production contracts between the Nigeria National Petroleum Commission and its oil drilling partners.

 

Authorities said the mobile platform was created for members of host communities in oil-rich regions to enable early reporting of incidents and spur immediate action from relevant security and government authorities.

Whistleblowers will also be rewarded.

During the launch, the NNPC group head Mele Kyari admitted that pipeline vandalism has become difficult to control.

In July, Nigeria changed its oil firm from a solely state-run entity to a commercial oil company.

Emmanuel Afimia, the founder of Abuja-based energy consulting firm, said addressing oil theft is an important issue the new company must deal with to improve its earnings. 

“At this point, NNPC would be able to at least find solutions to the issue of subsidies, to the issue of inefficiencies, to the issue of loss every year,” he said. “Because the effect would actually be felt by them, so I’m not sure they would want to continue with the way they’ve actually been operating the corporation. So this is definitely the right step in the right direction.”

According to the NNPC, with losses at 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day Nigeria loses about $4 billion in revenue every year.

Kyari said so far this year, the country has already lost $1.5 billion due to escalation of pipeline vandalism and oil theft at the Bonny Terminal in Rivers State.

But Toyin Akinosho, publisher of the Africa Oil+Gas Report, said beyond launching an app, political will is needed to address the problem.

“It’s very important that the state hydrocarbon company itself is announcing this [but] it’s not just a question about tracking, it’s actually how you deliver on ensuring that those incidents don’t happen again,” he said. “There has to be the will power to deliver. That’s what I’m interested in.” 

Nigeria has been seeking to cash in on rising energy prices as Europe tries to wean itself off Russia’s energy supply following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Authorities have revived decades-old “Trans Saharan” pipeline projects from Nigeria to Algeria and also from Nigeria to Morocco. Both projects are targeting European energy markets.

But Akinosho said the projects may not be completed until a few years from now.

“Whatever it is that we’re even building will take a bit of time,” he said. “You can’t construct these pipelines that the government is talking about, you can’t deliver them in less than three, four years.”

In January of this year authorities in Nigeria’s oil rich Rivers State began cracking down on illegal refineries locally known as “Kpo-fire.” Many operators were arrested.

Authorities say the government’s oil and gas revenue target this year is now threatened by a production shortfall of 28 million barrels caused by oil theft between January and July.
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A measles outbreak has killed 80 children in Zimbabwe since April, the ministry of health said, blaming church sect gatherings for the surge.

In a statement seen by Reuters Sunday, the ministry said the outbreak had now spread nationwide, with a case fatality rate of 6.9%.

Health Secretary Jasper Chimedza said that as of Thursday, 1,036 suspected cases and 125 confirmed cases had been reported since the outbreak, with Manicaland in eastern Zimbabwe accounting for most of the infections.

“The ministry of health and childcare wishes to inform the public that the ongoing outbreak of measles which was first reported on 10th of April has since spread nationwide following church gatherings,” Chimedza said in a statement.

“These gathering which were attended by people from different provinces of the country with unknown vaccination status led to the spread of measles to previously unaffected areas.”

Manicaland, the second-most populous province, had 356 cases and 45 deaths, Chimedza said.

Most reported cases are among children aged between six months and 15 from religious sects who are not vaccinated against measles due to religious beliefs, he added.

Bishop Andby Makuru, leader of Johane Masowe apostolic sect, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Zimbabwe, some apostolic church sects forbid their followers from taking vaccinations or any medical treatment. The churches attract millions of followers with their promises to heal illnesses and deliver people from poverty.

With a low vaccination rate and in some cases, no record keeping, the government has resolved to start a mass vaccination campaign in areas where the outbreak was recorded.

The measles outbreak is expected to strain an ailing health sector already blighted by lack of medication and intermittent strikes by health workers. 
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NAIROBI, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Additional riot police were deployed inside Kenya’s national election tallying center overnight, after a crowd of men scuffled in the early hours of Sunday and a party official shouted accusations into the microphone.

The fracas underscored fraying tempers and high tensions within the national counting hall as the country waits for official results from last Tuesday’s election. There were wry digs online over the melee from citizens pointing out that the rest of the nation is waiting patiently.

In the presidential race, results so far show a tight race between left-leaning opposition leader Raila Odinga and self-made businessman Deputy President William Ruto.

But confusion over vote tallying by the media and a slow pace by the electoral commission have fed anxiety in Kenya, which is East Africa’s richest and most stable nation but which has a history of violence following disputed elections.

Reuters was unable to get access to the official running vote tally for the presidential race on Sunday. A live feed displaying the results at the national tallying center had disappeared hours ago.

When asked about the tally, a spokeswoman for the commission referred Reuters to the live feed. Other electoral officials said they were unable to provide the information.

Officially verified results on Saturday with just over 26% of votes counted put Odinga in the lead with 54% of the vote, while Ruto had 45%.

The winner must get 50% of votes plus one. The commission has seven days from the vote to declare the winners.

A Reuters tally of 255 out of 291 preliminary constituency-level results at 0900 GMT on Sunday showed Ruto in the lead with 52% and Odinga at just over 47%. Two minor candidates shared less than 1% between them.

Reuters did not include 19 forms in the count because they lacked signatures, totals, were illegible or had other problems.

The preliminary tally is based on forms that are subject to revision if any discrepancies are discovered during the official verification process.

The many checks and balances are designed to try to prevent the kind of allegations of rigging that provoked violence in 2007, when more than 1,200 people were killed, and in 2017, when more than 100 people were killed.

Chaos at the counting hall

Odinga and Ruto are vying to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has served his two-term limit. Kenyatta fell out with Ruto after the last election and has endorsed Odinga for president.

Kenyatta leaves power having laden Kenya with debt for expensive infrastructure projects and without having tackled the endemic corruption that has hollowed out all levels of government. The next president will also take on rapidly rising food and fuel costs.

Ruto’s strong showing reflects widespread discontent with Kenyatta’s legacy — even in parts of the country where the president has previously swept the vote.

Large numbers of Kenyans also did not vote, saying neither candidate inspired them.

On Sunday, Ruto’s party member Johnson Sakaja won the governorship of the capital Nairobi, the wealthiest and most populous of the 47 counties.

Tensions at tallying center

As the tight race continued, party agents have grown increasingly agitated at the tallying center, known as Bomas.

Late on Saturday, Raila Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao ole Kanchory grabbed a microphone and announced “Bomas of Kenya is a scene of crime,” before officials switched off his microphone.

Party agents scuffled with each other, with police and with election officials, at one point trying to drag one official outside.

The scenes, broadcast on national news, were met with bemusement by Kenyans, who urged their leaders to grow up.

“The reckless behavior at Bomas by so-called leaders, which can fast ignite the country, must be called out,” tweeted Alamin Kimathi, a human rights activist. “Let the drama end. Let the process continue.”
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