The Kenya shilling declined sharply on Wednesday against the U.S. dollar, weighed down by raging political crisis in the East African nation, which saw an electoral commissioner quit days to the Oct. 26 polls.

The currency in the Wednesday trading declined to an average of 103.4 down from 103.31 against the dollar in the previous session, a drop blamed on currency speculators.

Kenya's Central Bank quoted the currency at 103.36 against the dollar, a low position from the previous day's 103.31.

On the other hand, commercial banks quoted the currency at between 103.30 and 103.40, after going down from Tuesday's close of between 103.20 and 103.40.

Traders in the financial institutions blamed the fall on the worsening political situation, indicating that the currency would continue to take a negative turn affected by politics ahead of the Oct. 26 polls.

However, the Central Bank is reported to have sold unspecified amount of dollars to stem the shilling from falling to levels that would disrupt the money market as speculators bought the greenback ahead of the repeat polls.

Kenya's dollar reserves currently stand at 7.4 billion dollars, which allow the apex bank to effectively intervene as it did Wednesday to keep the shilling stable.