Kenyan president is declared winner of troubled election

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday was declared the overwhelming winner of a rerun election boycotted by Kenya's main opposition leader, collecting 98 percent of the vote but also exposing the divisions roiling this East African country.

Uhuru Kenyatta, waves to the crowd after he was announced the winner in the rerun of presidential election at the Centre in Bomas, Nairobi, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. Kenya's election commission says President Uhuru Kenyatta has won election that was boycotted by main opposition group.(AP Photo/ Sayyid Abdul Azim)

While Kenyatta's backers celebrated his re-election, angry supporters of his rival, Raila Odinga, skirmished with police in Nairobi slums and burned tires in Kisumu, one of the opposition strongholds in western Kenya.

An Kenyan police officer carries a student to safety during clashes between protestors and police in the Kawangware suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. Sporadic violence has erupted in Kenya since a presidential election last week and opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote. (AP Photo/Will Swanson)

Kenya's election commission said the turnout of registered voters in the Oct. 26 election was about 40 percent, compared with roughly twice that in August balloting that was nullified by the Supreme Court because of what it called "irregularities and illegalities."

A man holds his hands in the air, left, as riot police dismantle a barricade during clashes with opposition protesters after the election result was announced, in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.  (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The rerun was marred by deadly clashes between police and Odinga supporters in the days that followed.

Kenyatta said he expected Odinga followers to mount new legal challenges, indicating the long saga that has left many Kenyans weary of conflict and has hurt business in East Africa's economic hub is not over.

Residents demonstrate as they burn tires in the street after the election result was announced, in Kisumu, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.  (AP Photo)

"My victory today was just part of a process that is likely to once again be subjected to a constitutional test through our courts," Kenyatta said at the election commission headquarters after results were announced that gave him a second term. "I will submit to this constitutional path."

Passers by run for safety during clashes between opposition supporters and police which erupted after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Kenyatta said he would consider dialogue with the opposition after the outcome of any court proceedings. He also described his victory as a validation of his win in August, saying the 7.5 million votes that he received this time amounted to 90 percent of what he got earlier.

Passers by run for safety during clashes between opposition supporters and police which erupted after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.  (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Odinga, who dismissed the repeat election as a sham and told his supporters not to participate, remained on the ballot and still got 73,000 votes, or just under 1 percent. In August, he received 45 percent to Kenyatta's 54 percent.

School students run for safety between police and protestors during clashes between protestors and police in the Kawangware suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. Sporadic violence has occurred in Kenya since a presidential election last week and opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote.(AP Photo/Will Swanson)

At least nine people have died in violence since the rerun election. Some were shot by police; several died in fighting between Kenya's different ethnic groups, highlighting the loyalties that drive Kenyan politics. Mobs have also looted shops and burned property in some areas.

A man holds his hands in the air as he runs past a barricade towards riot police during clashes between opposition protesters and police after the election result was announced, in the Mathare area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Late Monday, crowds in the Nairobi slums of Kibera, Mathare and Kawangware — areas where Odinga has strong support — confronted police, set fires and blocked roads. Security forces used tear gas.

Tires were set ablaze in the western town of Kisumu.

Supporters of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's holding flags and posters as they celebrate in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday Oct. 30, 2017, after Uhuru and his running mate William Ruto were declared winners of rerun presidential elections.(AP Photo/John Muchucha)

"It was not an election that involved everyone," said Peter Musundi, a Kawangware resident. He called the vote as a "nomination exercise" for the ruling Jubilee party.

Some Kenyatta backers celebrated his victory with song and dance.

Supporters of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's holding his poster and flags as they celebrate in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday Oct. 30, 2017, after Uhuru and his running mate William Ruto were declared winners of rerun presidential elections.(AP Photo/Johm Muchucha)

"We wait for Kenya to move forward," said supporter Ann Njoki, speaking near the election commission headquarters.

Voting did not take place in two dozen of Kenya's 290 constituencies due to opposition protests, although the election commission cited an election law that says final results can be announced if the outcome is not affected by the tally in areas that didn't vote.

An opposition supporter injured during clashes with police which erupted after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote is carried away, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.  (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the election commission, said before the Oct. 26 vote that he could not guarantee its credibility. Before announcing the results, however, he said he was confident it was a "free, fair and credible election."

President Uhuru Kenyatta, right, reacts as the Chairman of the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Wafula Chebukati, left, declares him the winner in the rerun of presidential race at the Centre in Bomas, Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct.30, 2017. (AP Photo/ Sayyid Abdul Azim)

An opposition protester walks past a burning barricade during clashes with police after the election result was announced, in the Mathare area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Odinga has said he will form a "resistance" movement to oppose the government, which has in turn accused opposition leaders of fomenting violence with incendiary rhetoric. He also said he wants another election to be held.

Residents of Kisumu in Western Kenya demonstrate as they light tyres in the streets to show their displeasure with the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as the president following the repeat elections held on October 26. Opposition supporters largely boycotted the voting exercise after opposition leader called it a "Sham".(AP Photo)

An opposition protester mans a burning barricade during clashes with police after the election result was announced, in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Odinga, who is from the Luo ethnic group, and Kenyatta, who is a Kikuyu, also faced off in a 2013 election similarly marred by allegations of vote-rigging. The opposition leader also ran unsuccessfully in 2007, and ethnic-fueled animosity after that vote killed more than 1,000 people and forced 600,000 from their homes.

Passers by run for safety during clashes between opposition supporters and police which erupted after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.(AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Most of Kenya has been peaceful during the political standoff that has transfixed the nation since the August election; human rights groups say dozens of people were killed by police in unrest following the earlier vote.

An opposition protester throws a stick as he tries to attack a man fleeing by motorcycle taxi, as clashes erupted between protesters and police after the election result was announced, in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec said Washington is deeply concerned by the recent violence and urged Kenyans to engage in dialogue "to resolve the deep divisions that the electoral process has exacerbated."

Uhuru Kenyatta, left, and William Ruto, right chat after they were announced the winners in the rerun of presidential race at the Centre in Bomas, Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. The commission said Kenyatta won election with 98.2 percent of the votes (AP Photo/ Sayyid Abdul Azim)

Amnesty International alleged that police used "unlawful force" against opposition supporters and bystanders after the rerun election. The human rights group cited cases of "police brutality" as well as violence and intimidation by backers of both candidates.

A passer by runs for safety during clashes between opposition supporters and police which erupted after the election commission announced results from the Oct. 26 vote, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.  (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In his victory speech, Kenyatta appealed for unity. Standing at a podium, he drew laughter with a reference to his speech after his August election win.

"I've been here before," he said. "Hopefully, this is for the last time."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later.

The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on the dashboard of his car and was among more than a dozen people arrested or summoned to appear in court for exhibiting such symbols since the law took force, New Zealand’s police said Friday.

The prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside private homes, including on clothing or in vehicles, is among a suite of new measures intended to bolster police powers to disrupt the groups. Wearing or displaying the insignia of 35 listed gangs will now prompt a fine of up to 5,000 New Zealand dollars ($2,940) or up to six months in jail.

New Zealand’s center-right government, which pledged ahead of last October’s election to tackle gang crime, says the measures will reduce the membership of groups responsible for violence and drug offenses. But detractors say the law breaches civil liberties and could drive gang activities underground.

"Gangs aren’t community groups. They’re not a Rotary club," Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on social media Thursday. “They thrive on destroying the lives of other New Zealanders, whether that’s by peddling drugs or through brutal acts of violence that leave communities in fear.”

Under the new law, officers can also disperse public gatherings of three or more members, bar some gang affiliates from associating with each other, and enter homes of those who keep breaking the law to search for banned items. Gang membership will now be considered by the courts when sentencing offenders.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters Thursday that two people were arrested hours after the law took effect for wearing gang “patches,” which are large insignia often worn by gang members on the backs of leather jackets or vests. The government says the patches are intimidating because members are required to earn them through violent acts.

The measures shift New Zealand's response to gangs closer to that of neighboring Australia, which also uses a law to suppress the public visibility of gangs, and away from jurisdictions like the U.S. and Britain, which use criminal law to respond to specific activities carried out by organized crime groups, according to a report published by Treasury officials in February.

Facial tattoos that display gang insignia are exempt from the ban, as is the wearing of gang colors. The government was criticized by some for not including white supremacist groups in its list of 35 organizations targeted by the new law. That means displaying swastikas and making Nazi salutes remains legal in New Zealand -– unlike in Australia, which banned both in a law that took effect in January.

There are nearly 9,400 people on a New Zealand police list of known gang members. New Zealand’s population is 5 million.

Successive governments have vowed to tackle criminal gangs, which often are linked to poverty and other deprivation. The previous center-left government was decried by Luxon’s administration for working with gangs on social initiatives, including COVID-19 vaccination efforts, while the current government has been denounced for advancing policies that are likely to ensnare some of New Zealand’s most marginalized groups, including Indigenous Māori.

Official reports say three-quarters of those on the national gang list are Māori, who make up less than 20% of New Zealanders, and that 80% to 90% of those in two of the most notorious gangs are former wards of the state.

Luxon made a formal apology this month for the widespread abuse of children and vulnerable adults in state care over the past seven decades.

Members of patched gangs gather before marching to parliament during a protest against a proposed law that would redefine the country's founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown, in Wellington, New Zealand, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Tantrum)