President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was sworn into office for a second term Sunday, minutes after being declared the winner of a hotly disputed vote marred by allegations of vote rigging.

Kibaki, 76, was sworn in for another five-year term after elections chief Samuel Kivuitu announced the results on television. He said Kibaki beat Raila Odinga, 62, by 231,728 votes in the closest race in Kenya's history.

On Saturday, the Electoral Commission said Odinga was leading by just 38,000 votes but that it was still waiting to hear results from several constituencies.

Mwai Kibaki, photographed in Nairobi on Dec. 12, 2007, was re-elected in the closest national election in Kenya's history.
(Sayyid Azim/AP)

To win a presidential election in Kenya, a candidate needs a simple majority of the nationwide vote, including at least 25 per cent in five of the country's eight provinces, as well as a seat in parliament.

Delays in tallying the vote from Thursday's general elections raised suspicions among some opposition supporters of a fraudulent count.

Earlier Sunday, Odinga called on Kibaki to concede and demanded a recount, saying the electoral commission "cannot possibly address the multiple levels of fraud administered by this administration."

After the results were announced, tens of thousands of opposition supporters went on a rampage in the slums near the capital of Nairobi.

In the Mathare shantytown, police said nine people were killed Sunday as protesters set fire to shacks, bringing the death toll around the country to at least 15 in two days of rioting.

With files from the Associated Press