Kenya’s election rips open scars of inequality, corruption

In the shadow of a glossy, thousand-dollar campaign billboard, one of many across Kenya’s capital, street vendors struggle to make even 200 shillings ($1.68) a day and often pocket none.

Kenya’s Aug. 9 election is ripping open the scars of inequality and corruption as East Africa’s economic hub chooses a successor to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The vastly rich son of the country’s founding leader, Kenyatta has deflected graft allegations by calling for transparency but done little in a decade in power to enable it.

The vendors on a barren patch along Nairobi’s Outer Ring Road can hardly grasp the enormous amounts of money spent on next week’s election. Few can. In Kenya, candidates aren’t required to publicly account for campaign donations or spending. But voters have watched the helicopters and long convoys that have whisked top candidates around the country for months.

“They’re spending millions of dollars, but I’m not