Kenyans queue to vote. Image by DEMOSH. Reproduced with permission.

The incumbent President is trailing in every poll – all 50 of them – leading up to an election. The last predictions, based on a count of half the actual votes, see the old guy taking a humiliating defeat – a 51% to 42% thumping, needing “a minor miracle” to turn things around.

Yet, hours later, there he is, being sworn in with graceless haste to an accompaniment of distant gunfire just 60 minutes after that miracle has taken place.

We don’t see miracles every day, especially in elections, so it’s little surprise there is gunfire because the people are rioting. Slums are set alight, protesters clash with police ordered to use their guns, and scores more than 100 are dead so far. It’s not over yet.

This was supposed to be the first time an African president was voted out of office. The British Foreign Office and Office for International Development speak of “real concerns” over the validity of the elections. International observers tell of huge discrepancies in vote tallies, and refuse to validate the results. A country riven by poverty, but with some hope – strong agriculture and a $1bn-a-year tourism industry – is now ready to head south, fast.

But there are bigger fish frying. So the US government, which works with the incumbent president on the “war on terror”, congratulates their man on winning, even as the country burns. Robert McInturff, a state department spokesman, says: “The United States congratulates the winners and is calling for calm, and for Kenyans to abide by the results declared by the election commission.

“Again we would call on the people of Kenya to accept the results of the election and to move forward with the democratic process.”

Further reading:

Guardian leader: A stolen election

New York Times: Tribal Rivalry Boils Over After Kenyan Election – a good bit of reporting, eventually, although students of spin might be interested in the different approach between this report (it’s all tribal), and any UK newspaper’s take on events (tribal, but they’re all furious at the fraud). There’s a difference, I’d argue.

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