Kenya opposition leader briefly hospitalized for dehydration

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya’s main opposition candidate has been briefly hospitalized for dehydration after being checked for suspected food poisoning less than a month before the general election.

Raila Odinga has been discharged from a hospital in No. 2 city Mombasa and he arrived early Monday in the capital, Nairobi, on a medical plane, according to his spokesman, Salim Lone.

Odinga, an ex-prime minister, said in a TV interview after being discharged late Sunday that doctors said he was dehydrated.

Making his fourth attempt to win Kenya’s presidency, Odinga is viewed as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s closest challenger in the Aug. 8 election.

Odinga’s supporters feel he won the presidential race 10 years ago, an election that international observers said was flawed. More than 1,000 people were killed in postelection violence in 2007.