The Kenyan government cut transmission of the country's three largest private television stations yesterday as they prepared to show the mock presidential inauguration of the opposition leader.

Raila Odinga defied the threat of hanging on Tuesday as he declared himself president of the divided country and took a parallel vote of office.

Mr Odinga was sworn in as “the people’s president” at an unsanctioned ceremony in the capital Nairobi that risks deepening tensions in a political crisis that has already claimed scores of lives.

His defiance infuriated the government of Uhuru Kenyatta, who formally began a second term in office two months ago after twice being declared the winner of controversial presidential elections last year.

In an unusual move that prompted accusations of a state assault on press freedom, the government’s media regulator cut the transmission of Kenya’s three largest private television stations as they reported on the build-up to the mock inauguration.