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Kenya election: Two dead as Raila Odinga returns home

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Kenya election: Two dead as Raila Odinga returns home

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Media captionTyres and a bus are set on fire as Odinga supporters and police fight running battles

At least two people have been killed in Kenya's capital Nairobi as police broke up crowds of opposition supporters.

The supporters had gathered to welcome home the main opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, from an overseas trip.

On Monday, the Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of last month's re-run election, won by the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta with 98% of the vote.

The vote was widely boycotted by the opposition and denounced by Mr Odinga as a sham.

He went away on a 10-day speaking tour in Europe and America after withdrawing from the election.

On Friday, Mr Odinga's convoy snaked through Nairobi to avoid security forces who tried to block off routes to public grounds where a rally could convene, the BBC's Tom Oladipo reports from the city.

Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Mr Odinga's convoy snaked through backstreets in a bid to avoid security forces
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Tensions are high ahead of the Supreme Court ruling on Monday

Riot police fired teargas and water cannon at defiant opposition supporters, as traffic was disrupted on motorways. Demonstrators threw stones in response. A police truck was set on fire.

Mr Odinga has called for a "national resistance movement" to "restore democracy" following last month's vote, in which turnout was only 39%.

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  • Raila Odinga – Love him or loathe him

Who is Raila Odinga?

Image copyright EPA
  • Aged 72, son of Kenya's first Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
  • Nicknamed Agwambo (act of god) by supporters
  • MP for Africa's biggest slum, Kibera, for 20 years
  • Has been a mainstay of Kenyan politics since the 1980s and plotted a coup in 1982
  • Holds record for being Kenya's longest-serving detainee
  • Also holds record for switching political parties
  • Has stood four times for the presidency


Source – bbc.com

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