The elections are two days away, and the embassies of foreign countries in Kenya have given guidance to their citizens, residents and tourists, on how to behave during the electoral round, starting from polling day until the announcement of the official results, which could take anywhere from 72 hours to seven days. By law, however, publication must not take place later than 16 August.
The polls will be open for 11 hours starting at 06:00 local time. Anyone still in the queue at closing time will be able to vote.
Once closed, officials will start counting votes at each polling station.
To win, a candidate must obtain more than half of the votes cast nationally and at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of the counties.
If this threshold is not reached, the election is held in a second ballot between the first two candidates. In the not remote case of a second round of presidential voting, it could even take up to 30 days after the first round to set up a new round of elections.
If the Italian Embassy in Nairobi has opened a dedicated telephone number to be used for any eventuality, emergencies or requests for help or information, and has sent notices to residents registered with Aire, referring all other useful advice and updates to the Viaggiare Sicuri website, other diplomatic offices have dispensed advice on particular areas to avoid on voting and polling days. 
The American Embassy, for example, has issued a warning to its compatriots concerning Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu on Lake Victoria. The advice is not to go there unless strictly necessary and to be very careful. The Spanish delegation in Kenya has gone even further: in addition to Kisumu, it has also placed Eldoret, Baringo and the northern regions of Laikipia and Samburu in the 'red zone', which have already been at risk in the past months due to raids by bandits and tribal feuds. Laikipia in particular has also been subject to a prolonged curfew regime for security reasons.
As for the coast, after the latest meetings with the security forces, it was reiterated that the threshold of attention is high and that Mombasa will definitely be the city to watch over, due to organised groups that could take advantage of any demonstrations to infiltrate and carry out criminal actions.
Certainly for tourists between Tuesday 9 (proclaimed national holiday) and Sunday 13 it is better to avoid travel and in case not to travel alone. If one is in private homes or in situations where one cooks and provides one's own food, one should do some extra shopping. In the event of a protest demonstration, even a non-violent one, shops as a precaution could be asked to close or choose to lower their shutters themselves, as was already the case in 2017.
In the event of incidents in the north or blockades on the main roads, there could be delays in the supply of fuel, as well as other commonly used goods arriving from Nairobi or Mombasa, for a few days. However, avoid going to overcrowded places and walking around in the evening in unprotected places, i.e. outside restaurants or private places.