Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has been re-elected following Tuesday’s election, officials say.
Mr Kenyatta, in office since 2013, took 54.3% of votes, ahead of his rival Raila Odinga, with 44.7%.
After the announcement, Mr Kenyatta called for unity, telling opposition supporters: “I reach out to you… We are all citizens of the same republic”.
But the opposition rejected the results even before they were declared, calling the process a “charade”.
However, it has been endorsed by international observers. Mr Kenyatta said they had ensured a “free, fair and credible election”.
Angry protests broke out in the city of Kisumu – an opposition stronghold – and in various slums of the capital Nairobi, including Kibera, where businesses are said to have been attacked.
Police, who were deployed in anticipation of the results, have fired tear gas in several locations.
Earlier, Mr Odinga’s supporters said he had won, and published their own figures. The electoral commission said this was “illegal and premature”, and said basic mathematical errors had been made.
Many observers fear a repeat of the violence after the disputed election 10 years ago, when more than 1,100 Kenyans died and 600,000 were displaced.
Mr Kenyatta has urged peace. “We have seen the results of political violence. And I am certain that there is no single Kenyan who would wish for us to go back to this,” he said.
Ahead of the results, Mr Odinga had called on his supporters to remain calm, but added that he did not control anyone, and that “people want to see justice”.
Raila Odinga has come up short again in what was his fourth and probably last attempt to become the president of Kenya.
The 72-year-old opposition leader had campaigned as a change candidate, calling himself the biblical Joshua and promising to lead Kenyans to Canaan, the Promised Land.
Despite the fact that he rallied and excited thousands across the country, a majority of voters have rejected his message, or rather rejected him, and embraced Mr Kenyatta’s vision of transforming the country.
Regional leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, have congratulated Mr Kenyatta.
