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The opposition advantage

President Kibaki campaigns on his record but opposition leader Raila Odinga is bolstered by regional discontents

A sense of urgency if not panic has gripped President Mwai Kibaki's camp ahead of the elections due in December. For the first time, opposition leader Raila Odinga beat Kibaki in a national opinion poll, published by the Steadman Group on 29 September. Three more newspaper opinion polls have confirmed the Odinga lead. The following day, after Mass at Nairobi's Holy Family Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kibaki embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the capital's dense slum districts in a presidential motorcade. He took time to address the crowds informally. The tour led on to Nyayo Stadium, south of the business district where Kibaki launched both his presidential election campaign and his new party, the Party of National Unity (PNU)....

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The opposition advantage

President Kibaki campaigns on his record but opposition leader Raila Odinga is bolstered by regional discontents

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