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SCORES DEAD IN KENYA POLL CLASHES !
Scores of people have been killed across Kenya in violence blamed on the disputed presidential election. A BBC reporter has seen 43 bodies with gunshot wounds in a mortuary in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu. A witness said police shot protesters. There have been running battles in Nairobi slums. The local KTN television station says 124 have died nationwide. President Mwai Kibaki has been declared the winner but Raila Odinga says he was robbed of victory by election fraud. There have been violent clashes in slums in the resort town of Mombasa and several other towns around the country.
The AFP news agency quotes police as saying that 40 people have been killed in Nairobi. There have been running battles in the slum of Kibera, between police firing live rounds and teargas and protesters armed with clubs and machetes. Large numbers of paramilitary police have been put on stand-by by the government. In other developments:
Those killed in Kisumu include two women and three children, reports the BBC's Noel Mwakugu. An eye-witness told him that police fired indiscriminately, even after the protesters started running away in the Kisumu suburbs of Manyatta and Nyamasira.
Local police chief Grace Kahindi said she had no knowledge of any deaths. A daytime curfew (0600-1800 local time, 0300-1500 GMT) has been imposed in the town. "Police have been ordered to shoot violators," an unnamed senior police official told AFP. There have also reports of trouble in Bungoma, Busia, Eldoret, Kericho and Kakamega. The violence was stoked by opposition claims that the results were rigged. Some of the violence has taken an ethnic dimension. The Luo community are seen as pro-Odinga, while the Kikuyus are seen as supporters of Mr Kibaki. AFP reports that supporters of the president have been celebrating in the streets of towns in the Central Province - Mr Kibaki's home region. The police have cordoned off Nairobi's Uhuru Park, where Mr Odinga's supporters had planned to hold a rival swearing-in ceremony. The police have warned officials of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement they will be arrested if they turn up.
Chief EU election observer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told the BBC that his monitors had been barred from counting centres in the Central Province. He also said that results from one constituency had been declared by the Electoral Commission of Kenya in Nairobi, which were different from those announced in the same constituency at local level. He said the anomalies amounted to 20,000-25,000 votes in just one constituency. Mr Kibaki's national margin of victory was 230,000 votes. "I myself have seen forms which have been changed and no-one could tell me who had done the changes," he said. "Interestingly enough, all the changes favoured the same candidate." Elections chief Samuel Kivuitu has admitted some problems, including a reported voter turnout of 115% in one constituency, reports the AP news agency.  BBC NEWS REPORT. Are you in Kenya? What is the situation like where you are? Send us your comments by filling out the form below. You can send us your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk You can also text your images to 00 44 7725 100 100At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. | ||||||||
Violent protests 
It's a sad day for democracy in Kenya 