Govt rubbishes reports of UPDF deployment in Kenya

Kenyan security forces advance on a crowd of protesting supporters of opposition coalition National Super Alliance (NASA) in the Nairobi slum of Mathare where demonstrations continued overnight following the announcement that Jubilee political coalition flagbearer Uhuru Kenyatta had won the presidential election. AFP Photo

Government has described media reports that Ugandan soldiers have been deployed in Kenya to curb protests as false.

According to the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Frank Tumwebaze, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) cannot be deployed anywhere secretly.

"The story on alleged deployment of UPDF in Kenya is false," Tumwebaze said on his official twitter handle.

"UPDF deployments are never done secretly," he added.

Tumwebaze's clarification has come at a time when sections of the media in the country are reporting that Kenya has sought the military muscle of Uganda to curb pockets of rioters, who are contesting the results of the Tuesday presidential polls.

President Uhuru Kenyatta was re-elected following Tuesday's polls with 54% of the votes tallied after a hotly contested presidential bid against his long-time political rival, Raila Odinga.

Odinga has since claimed that the election results had been tampered with, a declaration that has fuelled range among his supporters, especially in the opposition strongholds of Kisumu and Kibera slums in Nairobi.

Both Kenyatta and Raila have called for calm as the country grapples with the current stormy wave, which many say, reverberates the deadly clashes that characterized the post 2007 presidential elections.