Kenya sets general election for December 27

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyans will vote on December 27 in what is shaping up to be a tight race pitting President Mwai Kibaki against opposition firebrand and current poll leader Raila Odinga for leadership of east Africa's biggest economy.

The presidential and parliamentary vote was long expected in December, but the exact date had been a source of speculation.

"The Commission calls upon all Kenyans irrespective of their status, poor or rich, educated or uneducated, employed or unemployed, big or small ... to strive very hard to have Kenya realize truly democratic elections," Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) Chairman Samuel Kivuitu told a news conference after announcing the December 27 election date.

Kibaki, 75, has won support for introducing free primary education, increasing press freedom and freedom of speech, and reviving the battered economy he inherited at 2002 polls where he replaced long-time leader Daniel arap Moi.

But Odinga, 62, head of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), accuses the president of failing to tackle tribalism and rampant corruption. And Kenyans grumble about persistent crime and shoddy roads.

A new survey on Friday confirmed Odinga's lead, although it had narrowed slightly. The Steadman Group survey put Odinga at 50 percent compared with 39 percent for Kibaki. Two weeks ago, a Steadman survey gave Odinga 53 percent to Kibaki's 37 percent.

A third candidate, Kalonzo Musyoka, held steady at 8 percent.

Kenya's currency and stock markets were unmoved by Friday's news, but traders warned there could be volatility in the run-up to the vote.

VIOLENCE, TRIBALISM

Odinga, a wealthy former cabinet minister and political prisoner who projects himself as a champion of the poor, first overtook Kibaki in opinion polls in late September.

"It is very hard to tell who will win," Steadman political analyst Tom Wolf told Reuters. "This election will be very much decided by voter turnout."

ECK head Kivuitu exhorted Kenyans to avoid the bloodshed, tribalism and graft that have dogged past ballots.

"Let every Kenyan refrain from violence, reject any money offer to change their mind, spurn any motive which will derail our march to democracy," he said.

"Tribalism is a curse which separates communities. ... Tribalism has led to many wars in Africa."

The ECK has so far registered 14.2 million voters, of whom 6.7 million are women, in the nation of 36 million. More than 60 percent are aged under 40. Registration will complete by the end of October, Kivuitu said, with results to be published online.

More than 188,000 Kenyans have registered more than once, and have been offered an amnesty to return extra voting cards.

Analysts say despite exhortations to the contrary, the election is shaping up along largely ethnic lines with some economic considerations thrown in.

Kibaki commands the support of his Kikuyu tribe, Kenya's largest, whose heartland is the central highlands.

Odinga has his western Luo tribe behind him, and has also won support from others resentful of Kikuyu prominence.

(Additional reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri)