KENYA – Nairobi: Two election officers were injured and some arrested when chaos erupted Monday evening- putting a glaring stain on Kenya’s poll before Deputy President William Ruto was August 15 declared winner of a tight race to succeed two-term President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Four commissioners of Kenya’s electoral body earlier held a press conference disowning the results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati.
“We are not at Bomas because we cannot take ownership of the results,” IEBC vice chairperson Juliana Cherera said.
The 55-year-old Kenya Kwanza frontrunner defeated the Uhuru-backed Raila Odinga, 77, – with Agano and Roots Party candidates David Mwaure and George Wajackoyah respectively conceding defeat on Sunday to endorse Ruto.
About 50.49 per cent (7.18 million) of at least 14million Kenyans voted for Ruto in the decisive poll which now halts the ascendency of the Kenyatta-Odinga families since 1964 in the East African powerhouse. The IEBC data shows about 6.94 million (48.5 per cent) polled for Odinga.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) mid-morning Monday concluded verification of votes from 292 constituencies, ending a week-long anxious wait for results of the August 9 election.
All losing candidates, save for Azimio’s Odinga, sat amongst thousands in the spiritually-fired Bomas auditorium as IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati announced final results amid nationwide heightened security and a deserted capital, Nairobi.
Describing the IEBC tally centre as a “crime scene,” top Azimio leaders exited the auditorium by 5pm (EAT) –before results were announced- in the clearest signal of a looming appeal to the Supreme Court.
“We want to see and verify the results. We have intelligence reports that their system was penetrated and hacked. Some IEBC officials actually committed electoral offences and ought to have been arrested,” Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao Ole Kanchory said on Monday.
Several international observers say the poll mandating Kenya’s 5th head of state was largely peaceful in a country previously overrun by deadly post-election tribal clashes.
“We have learnt a lot from the elections in Kenya and will share the good example of real democracy, institutional credibility and upholding the rule of law to build the Africa we want,” they said at State House in Nairobi on Saturday.
Meantime, a 162-159 edge poised Azimio to control Kenya’s Parliament that comprises 349 elects although Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance led 24-23 in the Senate, according to official tallies.
Kenyan presidents
2022: President Elect- William Ruto
2013-2022: Uhuru Kenyatta (Outgoing)
2002-2013: Mwai Kibaki
1978-2002: Daniel Toroitich arap Moi
1964-1978: Jomo Kenyatta