[A closed gate lading to a polling station in Nyanza region. CNN has released projections of Kenya election turnout. Photo/Nation]
Only a third (33 percent) of registered voters turned up to cast their votes in the Kenya's presidential repeat poll, giant US media house CNN reports.
With opposition leader Raila Odinga having bolted out due to lack of reforms in electoral body, voting did not take place at all in same regions perceived to be anti government.
Although IEBC had projected that close to 6.5 million people out of the 19.5 million registered voters turned up, the figure could raise contorversy after initial projection showing that President Uhuru Kenyatta leads by 7.4 million votes.
Speaking to CNN on Friday, Odinga said he was left with no option other than to withdraw from a 'pre-rigged' election that was a 'waste of time'.
He further said:"We are going to use legal means, our constitution allows picketing, for peaceful demonstrations and boycotts."
But State House Communication Secretary Manoah Esipisu said the low voter turnout does not make the election outcome illegitimate.
"Kenyans have made their choice and it does not matter how many of them turned up for the exercise," he said.
The projections by the CNN suggests that only 6.4 million people turned up, a figure widely lower than the controversial figures by IEBC that stands at 7.4 million.