Opposition wins Kenya vote

VETERAN politician Mwai Kibaki and his opposition alliance won a landslide victory in Kenyan elections, breaking the ruling party’s 39-year grip on power, results showed yesterday.

With nearly all ballots counted from Friday's election, Uhuru Kenyatta, the handpicked successor of outgoing President Daniel arap Moi, conceded defeat. Kibaki, a 71-year-old economist, garnered 62% of the vote while Kenyatta received 29%, according to figures from the Institute for Education in Democracy.

A government-appointed electoral commission was expected to release final results late last night "The Kenyan people have now spoken, and it is with great joy and humility that we accept their trust," said Raila Odinga, a leader of Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition, which also made large gains in concurrent parliamentary elections. The Kenya African National Union, or KANU has ruled the East African nation since independence from Britain in 1963.