Veteran politician Mwai Kibaki and his opposition alliance have won a landslide victory in Kenyan elections, breaking the ruling party’s 39-year grip on power, according to figures from an independent body monitoring the election.

On a day many thought they would never see, Kenyans headed to the polls today to determine who will succeed President Daniel arap Moi – the leader of the East African nation for the past 24 years and one of Africa’s few remaining “big men”.