Kenya opposition launches campaign against Kibaki

By Wangui Kanina and Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Dancing and singing in a Nairobi park, tens of thousands of Kenyans launched the opposition's election campaign on Saturday buoyed by opinion polls putting their leader ahead of President Mwai Kibaki.

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Raila Odinga accused Kibaki of tribalism and broken promises, and vowed a new start for east Africa's largest economy if he wins in December.

"Forty years after independence we are still very far from achieving the dream of the founding fathers," he told a whooping crowd at Uhuru (Freedom) Park.

"Corruption still thrives, tribalism is still there, and our people are poorer. Kibaki has failed the test."

At a smaller rally in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, the 75-year-old president urged voters to give him a second five-year term because of measures like free primary education.

"Let the work continue," he told the crowd. "I am now asking you for a second term. When I finish I will go home and farm, and you will be able to elect a young man of your choice."

Four surveys have given Odinga, a charismatic former political prisoner, between 47 and 43 percent ratings, versus Kibaki's 42 to 34.

Kibaki comes from Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu, and many perceive Odinga's party as an alliance against the Kikuyu from other ethnic groups, including his own Luo group.