Just over a kilometre away, Mr Odinga's supporters - bedecked in his orange party colours - filled the Nyayo national stadium to hear him promise victory.

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At its colourful campaign rallies - where supporters sport the red, white and blue party colours and chant their party slogan, "truth" - there is an air of optimism.

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In British elections we're used to what we call "battle buses", cheerfully painted wagons, festooned with party slogans and colours.

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Nor can the candidates, more than 1, 000 of them contesting 131 seats, appear on the ballot paper with identifying party symbols or colours.

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Recently a senior medic - a man in whose hands I'd put my life with no hesitation - drew me a chilling picture of the future of the NHS. It wasn't a picture whose colours were political, not party political anyway.

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Officials in Plano, Texas, for example, banned Christmassy colours from a school's winter party.

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Meanwhile Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams wanted to highlight the influence of his party, claiming it was "fairly clear for all to see in bold primary colours what are the yellow and what are the blue packages in this particular Budget".

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