Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga addressing supporters at Jacaranda grounds in Donholm on May 28, 2017. [Nairobi News]NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga will find it very hard to defeat President Uhuru Kenyatta in the October 26 repeat Presidential poll.According to John Tomaszewski of the International Republican Institute, Raila would have 'to clear very, very tall bar'. Tomaszewski had been asked to assess the chances of Odinga's prevailing in the scheduled October 26 polls.The Africa director of a democracy-promotion group loosely affiliated with the US Republican Party offered the opinion that Kenyatta had won the election on August 8, reports the Nation.He noted that the president had made in-roads into parts of the country where Mr Odinga should have been stronger."The Nasa leader is facing a daunting challenge in garnering more votes than his opponent. Many Kenyans are eager to put the electoral process behind them. There is a growing sentiment that they can no longer be held captive by these two men," Tomaszewski said in regard to Kenyatta and Odinga as quoted by the Nation.Tomaszewski who was speaking during a Washington think-tank forum on Monday also noted that the repeat presidential race is 'going to get nastier and more intense as we go into election day'. His prediction is in regard to the already-overheated political rhetoric being used by both Jubilee and Nasa political divides."We will see some serious challenges to the democratic system in Kenya. Which way it goes, no one knows as of yet. Kenya is not some banana republic, at all and may overcome these challenges," added Mr Tomaszewski whose NGO monitored the August 8 election.

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