Fires of protest greet Kenyan leader's second term

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Shanty-towns blazed, ethnic gangs fought and the opposition planned protests as President Mwai Kibaki began a second term in office on Monday after a disputed election that has convulsed Kenya.

The gentlemanly Kibaki, 76, showed a steely core by swearing himself in within an hour of being pronounced victor in an election denounced as fraudulent by opposition challenger Raila Odinga and questioned by international and Kenyan observers.

Odinga's supporters said he would be declared president at a rival ceremony on Monday, but police banned the event.

"This is the saddest day in the history of democracy in this country. It is a coup d'etat," said Koki Muli, head of respected local watchdog, the Institute of Education in Democracy.

Kibaki now faces the momentous task of reuniting a country split pretty much down the middle by an election that has brought several dozen deaths, first during campaign rallies and then in an explosion of violence over the results.

The turmoil threatens to deter investors from east Africa's largest economy and damage Kenya's reputation as an oasis of relative stability in a volatile and war-scarred region.

"With the elections behind us now ... I urge all of us to set aside the passions that were excited by the election process," Kibaki pleaded.

Jubilant supporters danced in the streets and burned tires in celebration in his highland hometown of Othaya -- a sharp contrast to the angry fires in his rival's strongholds.

"We have been blessed!" said 60-year-old teacher Kiruki Wanjima in Nyamari village where Kibaki has a tea farm.

And while Britain and the European Union expressed concerns, Washington sent its congratulations to Kibaki.

Few expect the situation to calm quickly.

"We are in for a period of violence and turbulence, without doubt," said Nairobi-based businessman and analyst Robert Shaw.

So controversial was the final result that the head of the electoral board, Samuel Kivuitu, had to abandon his public announcement, escorted by military police, after the podium was stormed by heckling opposition supporters.

Within the hour, he was joking at Kibaki's side during a swearing-in on the lawn of Nairobi's State House.

"NO PEACE"