Tanzania wishes Kenya peaceful general elections

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday wished neighboring Kenyans peaceful general elections as they went to the polls to vote for their leaders.

"I am praying God be with you (Kenyans) as you fulfill your constitutional right of getting leaders of your choice in a peaceful environment, unity, harmony and solidarity," President Hassan said in her official tweet. "Wishing you all the best."

President Hassan was inspecting the Njombe region in the country's southern highlands Tuesday.

Millions of Kenyan citizens on Tuesday cast their ballots at about 46,229 polling stations across the country to elect the country's fifth president as well as members of the National Assembly, senators, and county governors.

William Ruto, Kenya's sitting deputy president and presidential candidate under the Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) Alliance, cast his ballot at 6 a.m., local time, Tuesday at a primary school located in his ancestral Sugoi village in the northwestern county of Uasin Gishu. Soon after casting his ballot, Ruto said he will respect the election outcomes, after months of heated campaigns.

Ruto is running for the presidency with three other candidates including his closest rival, Raila Odinga, a veteran opposition leader who is running for the presidency under the Azimio La Umoja (Resolution for Unity) One Kenya Coalition. Odinga also cast his ballot at a polling station in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, later Tuesday.