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The re-run of Kenya’s presidential election has taken place, but early signs are the overall turnout has been far lower than the first poll which was annulled by the Supreme Court.

The legitimacy of this election was being questioned even before the voting began, but if the 46% of the country who voted for the opposition last time have failed to turn up, the whole process will be further undermined.

Kisumu, like other parts of western Kenya, is an opposition stronghold and very few – if any – votes have been cast here.

The returning officer at Kisumu Central constituency tallying centre cut a lonely figure.

He and just two other Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials turned up for work – out of the 400 who should have been running the poll here.

The ballot boxes hadn’t arrived by 07:00, but were then dropped off by a Prisons Service coach.

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Although the three IEBC staff went through the motions by placing the voting kits into each ballot box, there was nobody to take them to the polling stations or to oversee the election.

And even if there had been, they probably wouldn’t have been allowed to enter the various buildings in town set aside for voting.

Intimidation was the cause.

Commercial truck drivers didn’t want to risk carrying ballot boxes or voting slips, as gangs of youths were out, threatening anyone associated with trying to make the vote happen.

The main roads in Kisumu were blocked by lines of rocks and burning tyres every 150m (164yds), most of them manned by angry young men with sticks.

They shouted anti-Kenyatta slogans and complained at the way the police were firing live bullets and teargas to disperse the protests.

Throughout the day they played a cat-and-mouse game with the security forces: rocks and slingshots versus teargas and in some cases live ammunition – usually fired overhead.

But there were a handful of gunshot injuries and at least one person was killed.

George Odhiambo, 19, was brought into hospital with a serious bullet wound in his upper leg and died after losing too much blood.

When Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled the August presidential election, the decision was lauded as a triumph of judicial independence and African democracy in action.

Both were shattered in the lead-up to the vote.

Riddled with bullets

The courts were kept busy trying to cope with claims and counter-claims, but two key things will haunt this second ballot and provide ammunition for claims of illegitimacy.

The first was the hail of gunfire that seriously injured the deputy chief justice’s bodyguard two nights before the ballot.

The second was that Supreme Court judges were simply unwilling to turn up to work.

It’s perhaps not surprising Lady Justice Philomena Mwilu did not attend court the morning after her car was riddled with bullets.

Luckily she was not in the vehicle at the time.

It was clearly interpreted as a serious threat to her life – a grotesque and blatant attempt to intimidate the country’s second most senior judge.

And it worked.

The Chief Justice, David Maraga, apologised to all parties who had gathered for an urgent petition asking the court to stop the re-run of the presidential vote the day before the ballot.

They were unable to hear the case, he said, because they didn’t have a quorum.

Five of the court’s seven judges must be present for decisions to be valid, but only two made it into work that day.

Lady Justice Mwilu was not in a position to come to court “following the events of last night which are in the public domain,” the chief justice said.

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Justice Mohammed Ibrahim had been ill for some time and was out of the country.

Lady Justice Njoki Ndung’u was “unable to get a flight back to Nairobi in time” and Justices Ojwang and Wanjala “are not able to come to court,” he said, without any further explanation.

‘Difficult to guarantee’

The highest court in the land – with an opportunity to rule on the contradictions of electoral law, the constitution and its various interpretations – stepped back and allowed the election to go ahead without further discussion.

The case has been suspended – it will no doubt be revisited, but only after it’s too late.

After faith in the IEBC was shattered by its failings on the first attempt, it seems unlikely a large percentage of the population will accept the re-run result.

Just last week the chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati said: “It is difficult to guarantee a free, fair and credible election.”

But he nevertheless announced the ballot would go ahead, “based on the assurances given to the commission” on security and on the progress made in ensuring the vote was free and fair.

And in many parts of the country it did go ahead – ruling party strongholds no doubt recorded plenty of votes, but overall it appears the numbers are down.

The lower the turnout, the louder the voices of dissent will be.

And with opposition strongholds unwilling to vote and seemingly prepared to prevent others from doing so, Kenya faces continuing uncertainty.

Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.

Ethiopia and Rwanda will meet in a two-legged play-off for the right to replace Egypt at the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco.

Egypt pulled out of the tournament– which is for African players based in their domestic leagues – because of a timing clash.

Ethiopia and Rwanda were eliminated in the final round of East Zone qualifiers, and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) confirmed both teams had been picked for the play-off as “a part of a concern for fairness”.

Caf say it will bring the number of teams representing the Central East Zone at the final tournament in Morocco to three.

The first leg of the play-off will be on 5 November 2017 in Ethiopia with the return leg a week later in Rwanda.

The draw for the 2018 CHAN will be made on 17 November 2017, with the 16-team tournament taking place from 12 January to 4 February.

Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.

Al Ahly of Egypt could not build on their quick start against Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca, settling for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the African Champions League final.

Moamen Zakaria scored after just three minutes for Ahly, the record eight-time African champions, at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria.

But leading Wydad scorer Achraf Bencharki levelled soon after, with dominant Ahly failing to add to their goals tally.

One-touch passing down the left flank created the early chance for Zakaria, and his looping left-foot shot went over goalkeeper Zouheir Laaroubi into the corner.

It might have been 2-0 for the rampant home side five minutes later when their Moroccan striker Walid Azaro raced clear, but could only steer his shot onto the crossbar.

After weathering the early storm, Wydad settled and found an equaliser as Bencharki glanced his header past Ahly goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy from Mohamed Ounajem’s cross on 17 minutes.

Ahly had the best chance before the break when Nigerian Junior Ajayi found himself unmarked in the box, but his header went high over the bar.

Ajayi and El-Said both missed good opportunities to put the home side in front again, while Azaro thought he should have had a penalty as well in the second half.

A late strike from experienced forward Emad Moteab shaved the post as Wydad clung on for the draw.

The Moroccans now take what could be a precious away-goal into the second leg in Casablanca next weekend and will be buoyed by the knowledge that their home form has been outstanding this year.

They have won all six of their Champions League games in Morocco, while conceding just one goal.

It increases the pressure on Ahly – and their coach Hossam El Badry – as they seek to extend their record of African Champions League crowns to nine.

El Badry, who is enjoying a third spell in charge of the club, guided Al Ahly to the 2012 Champions League title.

Whoever wins this year’s final will claim $2.5m in prize money and represent Africa in December’s Fifa Club World Cup final in the United Arab Emirates.

Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.