Clinton urges Kenya to hold free, fair elections

On the latest stage of her African tour, Hillary Clinton has urged Kenya to hold free and fair elections and to be a role model for the continent.

The US Secretary of State underlined the need to avoid the bloodshed suffered during Kenya’s last vote, five years ago.

“Of course what happens in the elections is up to the people of Kenya. They are the ones who will make the decisions,” Clinton said in Nairobi.

“I have won elections and I have lost elections. When you lose an election and when your supporters see you lose an election, it’s important that they have to see that the process was fair. And that’s what we hope for here, for our friends in Kenya.”

Kenya’s current president and prime minister were rivals in the disputed 2007 poll which triggered inter-ethnic violence. More than 1,200 people were killed.

Today, Kenya also faces a growing terrorism threat. It blames Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants for a series of bomb attacks, said to be revenge for Kenyan troops pursuing the Islamists over the border.

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