Gatundu and Kibera, Nairobi — Nestling in a plot of its own, a few steps away from rows and rows of lush, green cornfields, the unfinished building of Mutumo Primary School, 60km (40 miles) north of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, readied itself to receive hundreds of Kenyan voters at dawn on Friday.
The school is one of dozens in the country serving as polling stations for the landmark elections that end the 24-year leadership of President Daniel arap Moi in Kenya.
With the the voting rooms still bathed in darkness, election officials prepared to open the doors at 06h00 sharp, the muted glow of kerosene lamps casting long shadows. The returning officer, with her ready smile and crisp, teachers voice, explained the voting and verification procedure to an attentive audience while the ballot boxes were sealed to everyones satisfaction.
Then the people patiently lining up outdoors in the early morning chill started filing in to cast their votes. And so began the presidential, parliamentary and local civic elections in Gatundu South, which will mark the end of an era in Kenyan politics as Moi steps down.
Although five candidates are in the running, the presidential contest is widely seen as a two-horse race, between Uhuru Kenyatta, candidate for the governing Kenya African National Union (Kanu) and his rival, Mwai Kibaki, of the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc).
Ndolonga Kamau, 80, a retired citizen walked slowly in and out of the polling station and although he would not say who he voted for "because thats a secret", he was prepared to share his vision for his country. "What I want to see is Kenya moving forward, with people loving each other and life being smooth."
Although Kamau declined to name names, he hinted at his preferred candidate and praised Moi, saying that Kenya had remained peaceful under his long leadership and should continue that way under the next president. "Moi has kept the country very well and we dont want that to be disrupted," he said.
Moi voted early Friday at his birthplace in the Baringo area of the Rift Valley, pledging once again to leave power graciously. "I want to wish good luck to whoever I hand over to. I step down happy, having completed my two terms in multiparty democracy. I presume that the challenges Kenyans face will be well handled. Kenyans are very democratic."
"Now the reins of power will be handed from Moi to the next person, just as he took over the reins from the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (Kenyas independence leader and the father of Uhuru)," said voter Ndolonga Kamau. He hoped that whichever candidate was elected, the next president would maintain the stability of the country, adding philosophically that "if a farmer goes out his fields, he must bring back his hoe and his other tools. That is what Moi has done and he has shown us who should take over."
The man Moi handpicked to succeed him, Uhuru Kenyatta, 41, arrived to vote in Gatundu South at 08h00, once the weather had warmed up and before the skies opened with heavy downpours later in the day. Kenyatta chatted and joked with the crowds, who greeted the Kanu presidential hopeful with enthusiasm, as he asked and was granted permission to jump the queue and vote early with his wife, Margaret, and his mother, Mama NGina.
Sounding upbeat and smiling broadly on arguably the most important day of his life, Kenyatta told waiting reporters he was confident of victory and that Kenyans would vote for him "because they need a new beginning, a new start, a break from the past. This is an historic day, it is a transition day and I am sure Kenyans are going to choose me."
Kenyatta made no mention of his critics, who argue that he has little political experience and has never held elected office. "This is the only opportunity we have to break from the past and have a new beginning," he said, adding that his priorities would be to improve education, health care and the economy. And, said Kenyatta, though he expected to win the election and become Kenyas third president, he would respect the outcome of the polls if he lost, because "that is the essence and role of true leaders."
Kenyattas main rival, Mwai Kibaki, 71, is the presidential candidate of Narc, an alliance of more than a dozen opposition parties. Kibaki voted in his home constituency of Othaya, in Central Province, three hours journey from Nairobi. Still recuperating from a car crash, in which he broke an upper arm and dislocated an ankle which is still in plaster, election officials carried the necessary voting material to his vehicle for Kibaki to cast his ballot. Journalists were kept at a distance by his bodyguards.
"Kenyans should continue voting peacefully and remain confident that the National Rainbow Coalition will form the next government," said Kibaki to a crowd that gathered to see him vote at Munaini primary school.
Kibaki's confident tone was echoed by many of the voters in Nairobis sprawling Kibera slum, an opposition stronghold that seemed firmly in favour of change under Kibaki and Narc, after experiencing almost a quarter-century of Moi.
Kibera residents complain bitterly about the high cost and low quality of housing. They say they are deprived of proper schools, affordable housing and public utilities in a crowded shantytown, where covered gutters do not exist and children play among smelly heaps of litter piled up in front of shacks and shops.
Although Kibaki is one of Moi's former vice-presidents, "Change with Kibaki," was the leitmotif of most of the voters eager to speak to journalists in the slum.
David Mugoyo, 28, is a garbage collector in Nairobi. He said he was confident that Kibaki would be able to create more jobs, a view mirrored by many young voters in Kibera. "A lot of young people in Kibera are unemployed and they have been suffering for a very long time and the blame rests firmly with President Moi who has not handled the job with the required dignity. He has not been able to handle Kenyas problems," said Mugoyo.
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Asked whether the comparatively youthful Kenyatta might not make a good new leader for Kenya, Mugoyo responded: "He doesnt have the experience. Just because he has been handpicked and forced on us, it doesnt mean that the Kenyan people will accept that."
Pastor Dalmas Owino, 25, another slum resident clearly happy to use his oratorical skills outside the church, was more outspoken. "We have been totally, completely and absolutely left out by this government," he told journalists. Owino complained that the slum dwellers paid tax, but there were no government schools in Kibera. "We dont receive anything, not even text books paid for by our taxes. We blame Moi and the government. They have left Kenya and the economy in a mess."
To loud whistles and applause from the crowds gathered to listen, Owino concluded that having considered the political manifestos and campaign pledges of all the presidential candidates, "Kibaki tosha," and "Kibaki is all we need. Kibaki is our man". He continued: "The indications are very, very clear on the sky that only Mwai Kibaki is able to effect meaningful change in this nation - and not just in Kibera - in a transparent way. We know that he is the man who can change not just Kibera, but Kenya - inside out."
