US President Barack Obama has urged the people of Kenya, where his father was born, to avoid violence and intimidation in next month’s elections.
He posted the message, which begins with a greeting in Swahili, on YouTube.
He said the polls were a chance for Kenyans to come together to show they were not just members of tribes or ethnic groups, but a proud nation.
Kenya’s disputed presidential election in 2007 descended into violence in which more than 1,000 were killed.
Kenyans head to the polls on 4 March to vote for president and other offices in the first national election since that violence.
« Kenya must reject intimidation and violence and allow a free and fair vote. Kenyans must resolve disputes in the courts, not in the streets, » Mr Obama said in the video message.
« Above all, the people of Kenya must come together before and after the election to carry on the work of building your country, » he added.
The US president’s father was born in Kenya and his step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, still lives in the village of Kogelo.
Barack Obama senior died in a road accident in Kenya in 1982.
President Obama said he had been « greatly moved » by the « warmth and spirit, the strength and resolve of the Kenyan people » during several trips to his father’s homeland and urged Kenyans to mark the 50th anniversary of independence by coming together.