Democracy’s big moment in Kenya

Kenyans queued up at polling stations across the country early Tuesday morning to vote for a new president and parliament amid concerns of postelection violence.

Incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, 55, is running in a closely contested race with veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, 72. It’s the last chance both men have to run: Kenyatta can’t constitutionally seek a third term, and Odinga’s age would prevent him from running again.

Some of Kenya’s 19 million voters showed up before dawn at more than 40,000 polling stations across the country. Aggrey Mwelesa, a 43-year-old security guard, told Al Jazeera he arrived the polling station at 2 a.m. “I pray for the best man for our country to win,” he said.

With more than half of voters younger than 35, Kenyatta’s campaign has centered on bolstering economic reforms and promised more than a million new jobs. Odinga promised to fight corruption, including in many state institutions. The winner of the presidential election must get more than 50 percent of the votes and one-quarter or more votes in at least 24 of Kenya’s 47 counties. If none of the candidates meets the percentage, they will contest in a runoff vote. The electoral commission will begin to count the votes once the polls close, but it has up to a week to deliver the official results.

The last days of the campaign saw tensions rise. Both presidential contenders have accused each other of trying to rig the elections, and a major electoral commissioner was tortured and strangled to death last week. Kenya’s 2007 elections resulted in violent protests that killed more than a thousand people.

Kenya responded by deploying about 180,000 security officials across the country. At churches, pastors and worshippers prayed for peace leading into the elections. Some 5,000 international observers, including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, have come to monitor the electoral process. Former U.S president Barack Obama also weighed in on the election. “I urge all Kenyans to work for an election—and aftermath—that is peaceful and credible, reinforcing confidence in your new constitution and the future of your country,” he said in a statement.

Peter Aling’o, an analyst with the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi, Kenya, said he doubted the 2007 violence would repeat itself. The country has employed increased security efforts, and both top candidates and groups within and outside the country have called for peace, he said. Regardless of who emerges as winner, Aling’o said this year’s election marks the end of an era in Kenyan politics. “We see things changing with this generation of politicians getting out of the way,” he said. “In 2022, we believe our elections would be more issue-driven.”

Iran frees Christian woman arrested with Saeed Abedini

Iranian officials released Christian convert Maryam Naghash Zargaran last week after holding her for more than four years on false charges. They arrested Zargaran in January 2013 because of her work at an orphanage with Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini. She was a children’s music teacher. Iran falsely charged her with “propagating against the Islamic regime and collusion intended to harm national security,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Abedini was released in 2016 and returned to the United States.

Early in her imprisonment, Zargaran had a heart attack, and authorities did not get her appropriate care. In 2016, she went on a hunger strike to protest her lack of medical care and was granted a temporary medical release too short for necessary treatments. In May 2017, USCIRF again condemned Zargaran’s wrongful imprisonment and lack of medical treatment

Iran is one of the most difficult nations for Christians, especially converts from Islam. Leaving Islam is considered apostasy and results in severe punishment from families, communities, and the Iranian government. Iran ranks eighth on the Open Doors 2017 World Watch List of countries with high persecution. In spite of that, Christianity is growing dramatically in Iran. —Julia A. Seymour

Kyrgyzstan congregation shaken by threats

Sources in Kyrgyzstan told World Watch Monitor local Islamic radicals broke into a church in the city of Tokmak, robbed and vandalized it, and scribbled threats on its walls. The vandals wrote, “We will kill you,” “Don’t teach our children,” and “Allah” in Russian, a language understood by most city-dwellers in the post-Soviet nation. A church leader contacted police, but authorities said the crime would be impossible to solve, according to World Watch Monitor. Kyrgyzstan is more than 80 percent Sunni Muslim, with a 15 percent Christian minority of mostly Russian Orthodox worshippers. Shiite Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, and Baha’i exist in very small numbers, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. —J.S.

Vietnamese pastor exiled to the U.S.

Vietnamese authorities have exiled a pastor and his family to the United States, releasing him five years early from an 11-year sentence. Authorities arrested Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh in 2011 on charges of undermining national solidarity. Chinh served as director of the Vietnam-U.S. Lutheran Alliance Church. U.S.-based Vietnamese activist group Boat People SOS (BPSOS) said Chinh, his wife, and their five children arrived in Orange County, Calif., on the night of July 28. “We welcome the early release of Pastor Chinh, but deplore the fact that he and his loved ones must go into exile,” BPSOS president Nguyen Dinh Thang said in a statement. —O.O.

Shooting at Nigerian church leaves 12 dead

Gunmen stormed a Catholic church in Nigeria early Sunday morning, killing at least 12 worshippers. The attack took place at about 6 a.m. at St. Philip’s Catholic Church near the city of Onitsha in southeastern Anambra state. State police commissioner Garba Umar confirmed the attack and said some 18 other people sustained injuries. Police believe the killings were connected to a gang war between two members of the community, Umar said. “One of the individuals built the church where the shooting occurred,” he said. “It is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mold of Boko Haram or Fulani herdsmen attacks.” —O.O.

Haitian lawmakers vote to ban gay marriage

The Haitian Senate has voted to ban gay marriage and all “public demonstration of support” for homosexuality. The bill, approved by the Senate on Aug. 3, stated anyone found guilty could face three years in jail and a nearly $8,000 fine. Senate President Youri Latourte told Agence France-Presse that homosexuality is a Western practice only, and the vote reflects the opinion of the majority. “A country has to focus on its values and traditions,” Latourte said. Charlot Jeudy, president of the Kouraj group, which promotes homosexual and transgender rights, said the bill would further reinforce prejudice and discrimination in the country. —O.O.