The Latest: Hyena sets off bomb meant to disrupt Kenya vote
By The Associated Press, Associated Press
Aug 9, 2017 9:12 AM CDT
Residents of the Mathare area of Nairobi, Kenya, take to the streets by blocking roads with burning tyres to protest in support of Kenyan opposition leader and presidential candidate Raila Odinga, Wednesday Aug. 9, 2017. Odinga alleges that hackers manipulated the Tuesday election results which appear...   (Associated Press)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Latest on Kenya's elections (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

A Kenya security official says a homemade bomb planted by extremists to disrupt elections blew up after a hyena set it off.

Joseph Kanyiri, the head of a task force of security agents in Lamu county, says the blast occurred after the hyena walked over it.

He says the bomb had been planted on a route used by election officials to transport ballots to a counting center. Lamu is on a dusk-to-dawn curfew following attacks by the al-Shabab extremist group based in neighboring Somalia.

Al-Shabab had threatened to disrupt Tuesday's elections. The group has carried out more than 100 attacks in Kenya since 2011, calling it retribution for the country sending troops to Somalia to fight it.

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4:55 p.m.

A police official and a witness say two people have been shot dead in Kenya's capital during protests over provisional election results showing President Uhuru Kenyatta leading opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome says the two were shot as they took advantage of the protests to steal.

An Associated Press photographer says one was shot in the head.

Protests broke out after Odinga alleged that election results from Tuesday's vote had been hacked into and manipulated.

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3:15 p.m.

Kenya's Railways have suspended operations of trains on its recently launched line from Mombasa to Nairobi from Thursday until further notice.

The announcement was made as violent protests erupted in Kenya as opposition supporters protested alleged voter fraud in the tallying of presidential results which put Uhuru Kenyatta significantly ahead of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Kenya Railway Authority Managing Director Atanas Maina said the decision was made to safeguard passengers and operations across the country.

The newly completed rail line from the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to the capital city Nairobi has been touted as a major success of President Uhuru Kenyatta's government and there are fears it may be targeted by anti-Kenyatta protesters.

Kenyatta often referred to the project as a success of his leadership in recent campaign speeches. The rail line is the country's biggest infrastructure project since independence from Britain in 1963. Critics say the $3.3 billion project, mostly funded by the Chinese, will never return the investment.

In protests after the 2007 elections, opposition supporters pulled out a section of railway track linking Mombasa to Uganda, Kenya's largest trading partner. This was after Uganda President Yoweri Museveni supported the re-election of then president Mwai Kibaki who the opposition said had won through rigging.

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1:10 p.m.

The chairman of Kenya's election commission says allegations by opposition leader Raila Odinga that the commission's database was hacked in order to manipulate results will be investigated.

Chairman Wafula Chebukati said Wednesday that an audit likely will be ordered to address concerns about the system used for Tuesday's elections.

"For now, I cannot say whether or not the system has been hacked," Chebukati says.

Odinga made the hacking allegation after results released by the commission showed him trailing President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking a second term. The vast majority of polling stations have been counted.

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12:50 p.m.

Protesters in the Kenyan city of Kisumu say police are shooting at them and using tear gas amid anger over election results in the stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Sebastian Omolo tells The Associated Press that chaos broke out as soon as Odinga finished speaking on television. Odinga says hackers infiltrated the database of the country's election commission and manipulated Tuesday's voting results in what he calls an "attack on our democracy."

Results show President Uhuru Kenyatta with a wide lead after votes from the vast majority of polling stations were counted.

Kisumu shopkeeper Festus Odhiambo says he is praying for peace even as roads into the city's slums have been blocked by bonfires and boulders.

The city has been a flashpoint in past elections.

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12:35 p.m.

A witness says hundreds of protesters are rioting in Kisumu, a city in southwestern Kenya that is a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Kenyan journalist Fred Ooko says people from the Kondele slum in Kisumu burned tires and blocked roads on Wednesday. Kisumu, a port city on Lake Victoria, is one of Kenya's largest urban centers.

Authorities have been concerned about possible violence following elections on Tuesday. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has alleged fraud following the release of results showing him trailing President Uhuru Kenyatta by a wide margin.

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12:25 p.m.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga says hackers used the identity of a murdered electoral official to gain entry to the election commission's database in order to manipulate voting results.

Odinga was referring to Christopher Msando, an election official in charge of managing information technology systems who had sought to reassure voters that the results of Tuesday's elections would not be exposed to tampering.

But on July 31 officials announced that Msando had been tortured and killed.

Odinga made the allegation about Msando's identity at a news conference Wednesday at which he said the elections were a fraud. Results released by the election commission have shown Odinga trailing President Uhuru Kenyatta by a wide margin.

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12 p.m.

Kenyan police say officers opened fire on people protesting election results in an opposition stronghold in southwestern Kenya, killing 1 person.

Leonard Katana, a regional police commander, said the shooting happened Wednesday when protesters clashed with security forces in South Mugirango constituency in Kisii County.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has alleged fraud in the country's general election, saying hackers infiltrated the database of the country's election commission and manipulated the results. His comments followed the release of results from Tuesday's election showing President Uhuru Kenyatta with a wide lead over Odinga after votes from the vast majority of polling stations had been counted.

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11:30 a.m.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday alleged fraud in the country's general election, saying hackers infiltrated the database of the country's election commission and manipulated the results in what he called an "attack on our democracy."

Odinga's allegations followed the release of election results showing President Uhuru Kenyatta with a wide lead over the opposition leader after votes from the vast majority of polling stations had been counted.

"Hackers gained entry into our election database" and "created errors," Odinga said at a news conference.

"You can only cheat the people for so long," the opposition leader said. "The 2017 general election was a fraud."

A top official in Kenyatta's Jubilee Party said the opposition's criticism of the electoral process was unfounded.

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Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia and Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

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