December 30, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 25, 1423

NAIROBI, Dec 29: Kenya’s opposition has won a historic and overwhelming victory over the party that has ruled the east African country for almost four decades, election officials said on Sunday.

Election Commission of Kenya Chairman Samuel Kivuitu declared Mwai Kibaki, 71, the leader of the National Rainbow Coation (NARC) alliance, as president in the evening.

Kibaki was expected to be sworn in as Kenya’s third president on Monday.

Friday’s presidential, legislative and local elections cap the 24-year autocratic reign of Daniel arap Moi, a period marked by growing corruption and poverty but also by unusual stability in a turbulent continent.

Kivuitu said logistical problems prevented him giving definitive scores in the presidential poll, but a NARC source said his own latest figures gave Kibaki almost 3.6 million votes against 1.6 for Uhuru Kenyatta, 42, who stood for Moi’s Kenya African National Union (KANU).

NARC also won more than 120 of the 210 elected seats in parliament, ousting at least 10 former cabinet ministers from the legislature.

Kenyatta conceded his defeat about three hours before it became official.—AFP