Opposition Leader Cries Foul in Kenya Election and Claims Results 'Hacked'

There are fears that if the result is not accepted by certain tribes there could be a repeat of the riots in 2007 in which thousands were killed.

​Mr. Kenyatta, 55, is the son of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, but under his rule the country has become mired in corruption, the economy has sagged and it has been unable to stop persistent terrorist attacks.

Raila Odinga, 72, who is from the Luo tribe, has tried and failed several times to be elected president.

After the December 2007 election, when he lost to Mwai Kibaki and claimed there had been widespread vote-rigging, there was widespread violence between the Luo and the Kikuyu tribe, which led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people.

​Hundreds were forced to flee and it was months before the violence stopped.

Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Kenyatta are both Kikuyus and many other tribes in Kenya feel they have dominated the country since it won independence from Britain in 1963.

Much of the violence in 2007 was between Kikuyus and Kalenjin tribesmen, but in 2013 Mr. Kenyatta appointed a prominent, Kalenjin, William Ruto, as deputy president in a bid to gain the support of his tribe.

Polling data published on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) website says that with 95 percent of results in, Mr. Kenyatta is leading with 54.3 percent to Mr. Odinga's National Super Alliance (NASA) on 44.8 percent. 

​There are huge variations between different Kenyan counties.

In Marsabit, on the border with Somalia, Mr. Kenyatta has reportedly won 83 percent of the votes, whereas in Siaya, in the far west, on the border with Uganda, he won less than one percent.

In marked contrast to Mr. Kenyatta's silence on social media, Mr. Odinga has tweeted repeatedly, claiming the election is a fraud perpetuated by Mr. Kenyatta's party.

​He also posted computer logs on his Facebook page which he claimed "proved" the Jubilee Party had hacked into the IEBC's computers and changed election results.

Earlier in August, Chris Msando, who was in charge of the electronic voting systems at the IEBC, was murdered along with a young woman he had been dating.

This year, in an effort to dismiss claims of vote-rigging, the IEBC had introduced a computer system — Kenya Integrated Elections Management System — which can identify voters, transmit results from outlying regions and tally up the final figures.

​​Mr. Msando, who was in charge of the system, had reported several death threats before he was murdered.

He went missing on July 28 and his Land Rover Discovery was found abandoned in the Nairobi suburb of Roysambu.

His body, stripped to his underwear, was found on July 30 and identified the following day. His left arm had been broken and he had been tortured before being killed.

The naked body of a 21-year-old woman, Carol Ngumbu, who he is understood to have been dating, was also found alongside him.