Kenyan election has attracted media coverage all over the world ever since the beginning of the year. An election in Kenya for decades has always been a surprise to many. From the time of single party to the current era of multi-party things have not changed that much to a number of Kenyans.
For those who have been caught up in one way or another in experiences of 1992, 1997, and 2007 will tell you it is not an exciting encounter. This worrying trend that happens after every 10 years is a puzzle why Kenyans always find themselves entangled into violence, tribalism, and disintegration however hard they try to avoid the repetition.
A drop of a needle in Kenya is an exciting news for international media and trying to focus on October 26 repeat election, this is how international media highlighted the election.
CNN first highlighted about the voter turn out which according to the media, was 33% lower than the previous August 8 election which was around 80% of the registered 19.6 million.
CNN focused on how Raila Odinga (NASA) leader boycott had a huge impact on the voter turnout. They showed how Raila failure to be on the ballot contributed to the low turn out experienced on October 26.
The table above represents the number of voters that are registered in 2017 general election. More of the CNN highlights was closed stations, demos that resisted election materials from being distributed, empty polling stations, and the fight between police and the opposition supporters.
Another thing came into play is the percentage per ethnic group which raises the question about its accuracy since the said statistics dates to a decade ago.
BBC not so different coverage about the events of Kenyan election re-run. The media opens with the way people came out to vote and they show from their contributors across the country highlight how those places participated in the repeat election.
BBC covered the forsaken Siaya polling station and some parts of Western Kenya. Most polls were served with IEBC voting materials but no one dared to show up for the exercise. While others remained closed altogether without even IEBC officials for fear of being seen by opposition supporters.
The vote boycott in the opposition strongholds was almost 100%. BBC also highlighted about the live bullets used by police to control violent youths who were blocking roads.
Another issue that was seen to have fueled the situation is leaders thriving on tribal affiliation. For instance, one contributor said "Ethnic-based politics is deep-seated in Kenya, fuelled by the illusion that if "one of us" is in power then people from that community will benefit."
"Kenyan politicians openly appeal for ethnic support although they disdain being labeled as ethnic leaders."
The othe focus went to demonstrators fighting police in opposition strongholds across the country.
The opening title and video tell it all about the Middle East media network. The media highlights on challenges that led to the cancellation of four counties where voting was to take place on an unspecified date. According to Aljazeera, security concerns were the major contributor that led to low turnout in most of the areas.
Other news that the Aljazeera focused on is the four counties canceled Migori, Homabay, Kisumu and Siaya. The IEBC chairman had directed that the election be carried on another date, October 28, which residents refused altogether.
Also, police killing did not go untouched when the street battle with the protesters got to another level.
The three most recognized international media reported what was the actual happening on October 26, Kenya general election, though the interpretation differed.
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