Kenyatta sworn in as Kenyan president

Police fire on opposition protesters after Kenyatta inauguration in Nairobi.

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn-in for a second five-year term at a triumphal ceremony at the Safaricom Kasarani Stadium on 28 November.

Following Kenyatta's appeal for unity in his inauguration speech, pro-government forces fired live ammunition and tear gas on opposition protesters during an impromptu rally at Jacaranda in the capital's Embakasi district. At least three people were killed, including a seven-year-old child hit by a stray police bullet.

The protesters were demonstrating over the result of a contentious re-election on 26 October in which Kenyatta received 98 per cent of the vote but which was boycotted by the opposition.

The inauguration ceremony was the culmination of several tense months of street protests and police violence, triggered by a bitterly contested election between Kenyatta, of the multi-party Jubilee Alliance, and Raila Odinga, of the National Super Alliance (NASA). 

The presidential re-run followed the disputed 8 August election which saw Kenyatta declared the winner by a margin of 1.4 million votes. However the result was annulled by the supreme court due to widespread electoral irregularities. The result of the subsequent election, which was boycotted by the opposition and registered a turnout of less than 40 per cent, was upheld by the supreme court.

The inauguration ceremony on 28 November saw the 56-year-old Kenyatta place his hand on the same bible as his father, Kenya's founding president Jomo Kenyatta, took oath with more than 50 years ago.

The political atmosphere in Kenya remains charged following Kenyatta's taking of office, an event described by NASA as a "despotic coronation."