Kenyans flocks to vote for next president in high stakes elections

Kenyans on Tuesday flocked to voted in elections that pits President Uhuru Kenyatta against challenger Raila Odinga in the East Africa's richest economy.from urbanites to ethnic Samburu warriors draped in colorful beads and carrying spears, thousands of voters formed long lines at many polling stations before dawn, to cast their ballots.

A key concern was weather Kenya would echo its 2013 election, a peaceful affair despite opposition allegations of vote-tampering, or to the 2007 election, which led to violence fuelled by the ethnic division that killed more than 1000, people.Electoral commission(IEBC) chief Wafula Chebukati said "voting was going smoothly" despite minor delays, technical hiccups and heavy rain slowing the process at some of the 41,000 polling stations.

All eyes are on the biometric voter identification and tallying system which suffered severe glitches in 2013 polls.The system is seen as crucial to a smooth election amid opposition accusations of a plot to ring the vote.

Kenya has nearly 20 million registered voters out of a population of more than 40 million.