Kenya is preparing for a much anticipated vote on constitutional reforms set for Wednesday.

The government has dispatched 18,000 additional police officers across the country, as some fear the vote could re-ignite ethnic tensions that rocked the country two and a half years ago, leaving 1,200 dead.

The referendum marks the first national poll in Kenya since the disputed election which precipitated ethnic violence.

The promise of a new constitution was essential to the peace deal that ended the bloodshed, but the reforms deal with divisive issues.

Andrew Simmons reports from Nairobi, Kenya's capital.