Kenya's capital shuts down on poll violence fear

NAIROBI (Reuters) - For a city that prides itself on its vibrant nightlife, Nairobi's streets sat lifeless through Saturday night, as poll-related violence ebbed and vote-counters in Kenya's presidential race retired until morning.

Steakhouses and restaurants were empty. Once lively bars remained shut behind railings padlocked in multiple places. Nightclubs that usually thump out dance music to the early hours fell silent.

Even the prostitutes who ply their trade with great success in the Kenyan capital's affluent town centre were nowhere to be seen, the traffic they solicit slowed to trickle.

"You see there's no one about, everyone's scared," said taxi driver Mike Karanja, as his car swept past deserted sidewalks. "They're fearing the violence. We want this election result to be finished so we can go back to normal."

The latest results from Kenya's closest ever presidential election put President Mwai Kibaki ahead of his main challenger, Raila Odinga, by roughly 120,000 votes, after more than two days of counting that had seemed to favor Odinga by a small margin.

That infuriated Odinga's supporters, who accuse Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) of plotting to rig the vote.

As tempers boiled over at delays in announcing the results, violence erupted nationwide, much of it pitting youths from Odinga's Luo tribe against Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group.

Police manned road blocks and dispersed crowds with teargas. Up to six people were killed. Some of Odinga's supporters looted property belonging to Kikuyus, who they have long accused of having a stranglehold on East Africa's biggest economy.

The government had declared a national holiday over the electoral period, so Nairobi was expected to be quiet. But residents said there is fear behind this eerie silence.

At a shopping mall in a posh Nairobi suburb, frequented by United Nations staff, wealthy Kenyans and diplomats' wives, residents said they were afraid to stray far from their homes.

And as Kenya sits on a knife edge for a final result, many expect clashes to worsen.

"The fighting will start again. The hatred is too much," said Benjamin Anaya, a night-watchman. "I don't even know if I'll get a matatu (public minibus) home, they're hiding. We need them to report who's won this vote then the violence can stop."

(Additional reporting by C. Bryson Hull)