Kenya election: shootings, fires and bloody clashes mar presidential vote

Fears victory for incumbent leader Uhuru Kenyatta will trigger more violence and legal challenges

Nairobi police patrol a street where protesters set fire to a barricade in a bid to block access to a polling station

The election rerun in Kenya today appears almost certain to end in victory for the  incumbent president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who campaigned without a credible challenger after opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the contest over alleged voting irregularities in the previous poll.
None of the six other minor candidates received more than 1% in the August election, according to Al Jazeera English.
But while Kenyatta’s victory is all but assured, the matter will not end there. The Kenyan Electoral Commission has already said it can’t guarantee a credible vote, and Odinga has urged voters to boycott polling stations.
“In stark contrast to the first ballot in August, which was overturned by the Supreme Court, several polling stations in key areas stood empty or welcomed only a handful of voters in an election likely to face more legal battles,” says the News24 website.
Opposition supporters clashed with police earlier today and threw up burning barricades in pockets of the country in a bid to derail the election, Reuters reports.
Within hours of polling stations opening, the first election-related shooting death was confirmed in the western town of Kisumu, where, according to CNN, police used tear gas and water cannons on protesters. At least four people were admitted to hospital with bullet wounds, along with more than a dozen who had been beaten by police.