Five vie to be Kenya's next leader

SDP leader James Orengo has little chance of success

By Gray Phombeah BBC News Online, Nairobi

Three more candidates have been cleared to stand in Kenya's presidential election - bringing the final number of politicians vying to replace President Daniel arap Moi to five.

Election candidates

Uhuru Kenyatta

Mwai Kibaki

Simeon Nyachae

James Orengo

Waweru Ng'ethe

Mr Moi - who has ruled for 24 years - is barred by the current constitution from standing.

His ruling party Kanu is facing possible defeat for the first time in its 40-year history after the main opposition groups agreed on a single united front against Kanu in the 27 December parliamentary and presidential elections.

The first candidates to be cleared on Monday were Uhuru Kenyatta -- Mr Moi's handpicked successor for Kanu - and Mwai Kibaki of the main opposition grouping, the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc).

Missing man

On Tuesday, only three of the four aspirants who had been scheduled to lodge their papers did so.

They were Simeon Nyachae of the Ford-People Coalition, James Orengo of the Social Democratic Party and Waweru Ng'ethe of Chama Cha Umma.

Martin Shikuku defected to Narc at the last moment

Veteran opposition leader Martin Shikuku failed to do so and later announced that he had stepped down to join Narc.

Two other candidates failed to gather 1,000 signatures in support of their candidature and were rejected.

Mr Nyachae - who is seen as the only candidate capable of attracting any support away from the frontrunners Mr Kibaki and Mr Uhuru - later addressed his supporters at a football stadium, a few kilometres from the city centre.

"Some say I should step down for the sake of opposition unity, but I can only reply that even if I wanted to, I could not because hundreds of thousands of Kenyans would not allow me," he told his supporters.

He promised, if elected, to increase the average annual earnings by 10% in the first year of his term, overhaul the health and education sectors and improve security.