Police Raid Offices of Kenya Opposition, Days Before Election

Police raided the offices of Kenya’s opposition alliance Friday evening, an opposition spokesman said, four days before a national election.

Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, said the purpose of the raid on the party offices in the capital was unclear.

Kenyan television reported that police at the scene said the raid was carried out because the opposition was running a “parallel vote tallying center.”

Kenyan election law stipulates that only the country’s election board can tally and announce election results. The country’s last two elections have been marred by problems.

In 2013 electronic voting equipment suffered widespread failure, and in 2007 a winner was declared while tallying — which was never completed — was still under way.

Odinga ran in both elections, lost both, and each time blamed fraud. This time he had said that his party intended to keep their own track of the vote tallies.

Odinga is running against President Uhuru Kenyatta in the Aug. 8 polls, when Kenyans will also chose their next lawmakers and local representatives.

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