Kenyans are moving closer to learning the outcome of their closely-fought presidential elections after days of anxious waiting.
Kenyans voted on Tuesday last week in six elections, choosing a new President as well as senators, governors, lawmakers, women representatives and some 1,500 county officials.
Deputy President William Ruto was leading with slightly more than 51 percent of the vote against 48 per cent for Raila Odinga, based on official results from more than 80 percent of constituencies, according to a tally published by the Daily Nation newspaper.
Ruto, 55, is deputy president but is effectively running as the challenger after outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta threw his support behind his former foe Odinga, the 77-year-old veteran opposition leader making his fifth bid for the top job
Both men had on Sunday appealed for calm as the wait for the final results of the August 9 vote dragged on.
Polling day passed off largely peacefully, but memories of vote-rigging and deadly violence in 2007-08 and 2017 still haunt Kenyans.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is under intense pressure to deliver a clean poll in a country regarded as a beacon of stability in a troubled region.
Results must be issued by Tuesday at the latest, according to Kenya’s constitution.