Kenya Elections: Odinga Rejects Results Announced by IEBC

Kenyan five-time presidential candidate Raila Odinga has Tuesday rejected results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission – IEBC saying they are null and void, The Tower Post reports.

Odinga who came second in the elections as announced by IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati on Monday evening says that as of now, “there’s no legally declared winner or President-elect.”

“Our budding democracy yesterday suffered a major setback. Our constitution is very clear on how the IEBC should carry out its role. What we saw yesterday was a blatant disregard of the law by Mr. Wafula Chebukati and the minority commission,” Odinga said.

“Figures announced by Chebukati are null and void. We will consider all constitutional and legal options available to us to make things right,” he added.

Odinga who was running under Azimio La Umoja Coalition came second in the heated election that saw William Samoei Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance announced winner.

According to the IEBC Chairperson, Ruto polled 7,176,141 votes which accounted for 50.49% of the total votes. Odinga came second after polling 6,942,930 votes which accounted for 48.85% of the total votes cast.

But prior to the announcement, four out of seven members of the IEBC distanced themselves from the results claiming that there was “opaqueness” towards the end of the verification.

“The laws are clear about how the IEBC should conduct its business. What we saw yesterday was a blatant disregard of the laws of Kenya, by Chebukati and the monitory of the IEBC,” Odinga said.

“Unless a unanimous decision is reached, a decision on any matter shall be by the majority.

“He [Chebukati] could have plunged our country into chaos had our supporters not exercised restraint. We totally without reservations reject results announced by Chebukati,” Odinga roared.

Despite Odinga’s reservations, several heads of state including Uganda’s Museveni, South Sudan’s Kiir, Tanzania’s Suluhu among others have congratulated Ruto upon his victory.

If Ruto’s victory stands, he becomes Kenya’s fifth president of the Republic of Kenya after Jomo Kenyatta, the country’s founding father who led from 1964 to 1978, Daniel Arap Moi (1978 to 2002), Mwai KIbaki (2002 to 2013) and Uhuru Kenyatta with whom Ruto has been serving as Deputy President since 2013.

If Ruto’s victory is annulled, the IEBC will have 60 days to arrange fresh elections where only the two top contestants will participate.

Moses Kayigwa