Three independent groups monitoring the forthcoming elections in Kenya have warned that corruption and bias by civil servants could distort the poll.

Independent monitoring groups, which include religious leaders, said they were concerned at reports about the behaviour of candidates in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections.

Corruption and bias have overshadowed the election

They said that candidates have resorted to buying up voters cards and bribing voters with handouts of money.

At a news conference in Nairobi, the groups said it was impossible to stress to people enough that voting was their right and they should not sell it.

Campaigning muted

Two days before the elections, campaigning has been muted with even the candidates making a late start.

Two of the leading opposition presidential candidates, Mwai Kibaki and Charity Ngilu, have been concentrating their campaigns in and around Nairobi.

Campaigning has been muted in the last two days of the elections

The area of Nairobi and the neighbouring central province are considered to be opposition strongholds.

Mr Kibaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, is tipped to win in the central province.

The large Kikuyu population there is likely to vote for him out of tribal loyalty.

Opponents of Mr Kibaki took a full page advertisement in a national newspaper to try to discredit him.

The advertisement referred back to the 1980s and the early 1990s, when Mr Kibaki was a member of the ruling party Kanu and served as vice-president.

The message of the advertisement was that a man who swapped party allegiances could not be trusted as president.

President Moi ordered police to control political violence, after twelve people were reported killed in clashes over the past two weeks.

Independent monitors are preparing to deploy observers in more than 13,000 polling stations in Monday's election.

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