Kenya's democratic muscle

NAIROBI, KENYA — Citizens here may soon do something rarely done in Africa: vote out a president.

With the election set Thursday, challenger Raila Odinga has a narrow lead over President Mwai Kibaki, several opinion polls show.

That's uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa, land of the Big Man, where leaders seldom are unseated -- even if it means using their power to pull strings.

In Nigeria, the presidential vote this year was marred by allegations of widespread rigging. In Ethiopia, nearly 200 people were killed during postelection riots in 2005. Uganda's president changed the constitution so he could run for a third term.

But Kenya is earning a reputation as an oasis of political stability in Africa, thanks to a succession of fair and stable elections, even when results defied the wishes of the government. In 2002 voters rejected then-President Daniel Arap Moi's handpicked successor. Three years later they defeated a government-backed constitutional referendum. In both cases, there was little violence or backlash.

Now Kenyans say they are looking forward to exercising their democratic muscles again.

"These old men just don't want to retire or accept the fact that they're going home," said Martin Kyalo, 32, an electrical engineer in Nairobi who plans to vote against the 76-year-old president. "We need to try someone else. We are crying out for change."

Kibaki may yet secure a second term. Polls over the last several months show Odinga with a lead of only 4 percentage points. But the close race has been a reminder to politicians that voters in this East African country won't be taken for granted.

Security guard John Nakitere, 30, said he planned to vote for Odinga because he is frustrated with inflation, stagnant salaries and unemployment. But Nakitere also has his eye on the 2012 election. "If Odinga doesn't do any better, we'll use the same knife to remove him from power in five years."

There have been a few isolated instances of violence, chiefly involving local races, and a few allegations of vote buying or ballot tampering. One candidate for parliament was shot to death this month in a possible election-related assassination.

But most leaders, Western diplomats and voters expressed optimism that the vote would take place freely and peacefully.

"Do not hate your neighbor because he is supporting another party," Kibaki urged Kenyans. "Do not assault him. Vote for the one you like. We shall be friends even after the elections."