ETHNIC VOTING
Still, ethnic voting patterns remain strong. Opinion polls show Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto command central Kenya and the Rift Valley, home to their Kikuyu and Kalenjin ethnic groups, which have supplied all of Kenya's presidents since independence.
The current government of 22 ministers has five Kikuyu and five Kalenjin members.
Odinga, from the western Luo group, dominates the west of the country and the coast, where residents feel neglected by the central government.
Cosmopolitan urban centres are largely up for grabs, although Odinga's party controls the three big cities - Nairobi, Mombasa on the coast and his home town of Kisumu.
Campaigner Githongo said politicians who failed to deliver on services or policies could only rely on ethnicity to win votes. "All the key players have been members of the same party at one time or another and none of them have really delivered," said Githongo. "Ethnicity is what distinguishes them from each other."
