By DPA
Nairobi : The European Union’s (EU) election observer mission to Kenya Tuesday demanded an independent inquiry into the allegedly rigged poll results that have ignited riots and violence across the country and left killed over 150 people.
The EU team, the largest international mission monitoring the Kenyan polls, released its preliminary findings after the vote, saying the process was marred by “serious inconsistencies and anomalies” in the vote tallies, and questioned President Mwai Kibaki’s returning to power.
“It is vital that an independent investigation is swiftly carried out to verify doubts about the presidential election. The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) must be transparent in this investigation,” said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, chief EU observer.
Defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga has alleged that the vote, which saw him lose by 230,000 ballots, was rigged. He has demanded a recount.
The allegations have sparked outrage amongst Odinga supporters and violence has spread, with armed supporters looting and rioting and at least 160 people killed, local newspaper the Standard reported Tuesday.
The EU mission said its observers were given a vote count of 50,000 at one constituency for Kibaki, but the ECK declared a tally of 75,000 when announcing the official result. At least one more constituency saw a similar discrepancy.
Some EU monitors were turned away at tally stations, with electoral officers claiming they were “too tired” to continue counting the presidential ballots.
Others were barred from entering the main counting centre in the capital Nairobi, a breach of agreement between the EU and the ECK.
The government on Tuesday declared the situation was “now under control,” as rioting and bloodshed continued in pockets around the country.
But Odinga has vowed not to back down and he and his supporters are set to inaugurate a parallel cabinet in a mass rally Thursday that will bring on a heavy police deployment in a downtown park.
The violence has exposed ethnic tensions as Odinga’s Luo supporters and Kibaki’s Kikuyu people, who have long wielded the levers of power in Kenya, have been attacking one another.
A despatch from London said: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Kibaki over the situation.
He expressed his country’s concerns about the conduct of the Kenyan elections, but strongly urged both to work for unity and reconciliation.
“All sides should exercise and work for a solution that reflects the will of the Kenyan people,” a statement from Downing Street said.
Britain’s Foreign Office has advised people against all but essential travel to parts of Kenya. Some 7,000 Britons are currently in the country, mostly for holidays.