Kenyans On Edge As Election Irregularities Mount
A Masai woman holds her ID card as she waits to cast her ballot in a polling station during the presidential and parliamentary elections near town of Magadi some 85 km (53 miles) south of Nairobi. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (KENYA – Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) – RTR3EK2L
Kenyans are bracing for presidential election results that many analysts fear could spark ethnic violence. Journalist Michela Wrong tells anchor Marco Werman that delicate tribal alliances will figure prominently in the election aftermath.
“This is almost a titanic struggle between two large ethnic groupings who feel that they’ve been struggling for power in this country ever since independence,” Wrong says. “I think this is a more poisonous atmosphere, there’s more rabid ethnic hatred in the air then there ever has been in this country.”
Preliminary results show candidate Uhuru Kenyatta leading by a wide margin. He’s under indictment by the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in the wave of ethnic violence that consumed Kenya after the last presidential vote in 2007.
“There has been a political game played here by the elite which has whipped up ethnic rivalry, ethinc antagonism. And that is very dangerous,” Wrong adds. “We’ve seen what that leads to in other African countries.”
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