Defeated Kenyan
presidential candidate Raila Odinga has said he will seek peaceful ways
to end a row over poll results, which gave a narrow first round victory
to rival Uhuru Kenyatta.
He was speaking after Kenya's Supreme Court upheld Mr Kenyatta's victory, rejecting Mr Odinga's challenges.
He said he accepted the court verdict because he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
But two people died and 11 were hurt as Odinga supporters clashed with police in his western stronghold of Kisumu.
There was an angry mood in the Nairobi slums of Kibera, says
the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in the city, and police briefly used tear
gas to chase away protesters outside the courthouse.
Tensions were reported in another slum, Mathare.
Violence after a disputed election in 2007 left more than 1,200 people dead.
The presidential, legislative and municipal elections held on 4 March were the first since the 2007 poll.
Official results said Mr Kenyatta beat Mr Odinga - who is
currently prime minister - by 50.07% to 43.28%, avoiding a run-off by
just 8,100 votes.
Mr Kenyatta and his running mate, William Ruto, are expected to be sworn in as president and vice-president on 9 April.
But they are facing trial on charges of crimes against
humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly
fuelling unrest after that election. They deny the charges.
Wounds opened'
In an interview, Mr Odinga said he wanted to avoid the kind of bloodshed that had occurred five years ago.
"I am going to tell my people to look at peaceful ways of
resolving this issue," he said. "The Supreme Court is just one step,
there are many other avenues.
"Wounds have not been healed, in fact they've been opened up by what's happened."
He hinted that if nothing was done there could be a return to violence.
"I fear that five years from now,
there will be voter apathy. This will lead people to explore other
means to resolve this issue," he said.
Some of Mr Odinga's supporters were less diplomatic.
"We cannot trust the court, democracy is dead in Kenya," one man protesting outside the courthouse told the BBC.
Earlier the court, in a unanimous decision, declared the
elections free and fair and said Mr Kenyatta had been "validly elected".
Supporters of Mr Kenyatta took to the streets of central
Nairobi after the verdict, tooting their horns, blowing on vuvuzelas and
chanting.
The president-elect made a televised victory speech hours
after the announcement, vowing to work with and serve all Kenyans
"without any discrimination whatsoever".
Mr Odinga responded to the verdict with a speech expressing
"dismay" at the conduct of the election but saying he fully respected
the court's decision.
Petitions had been filed to the court by the prime minister
and by civil society groups, who claimed irregularities had affected the
election result and called for fresh elections. However, much of their
evidence was dismissed by the court.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC)
has insisted that the vote was credible, despite technical failures with
an electronic voter ID system and the vote counting mechanism.
International observers said the poll was largely free, fair
and credible, and that the electoral commission had conducted its
business in an open and transparent manner.
Uhuru Kenyatta.......
- Born October 1961, son of founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta
- Heir to one of the largest fortunes in Kenya, according to Forbes magazine
- Groomed by former President Daniel arap Moi to be his successor, but heavily lost 2002 election to Mwai Kibaki
- Second African president to be indicted by ICC, after Sudan's Omar al-Bashir