Kenyan opposition politician Raila Odinga has rejected the results of the presidential election held on 9 August saying that the figures announced on Monday were “null and void”.
According to the results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati, Kenya Kwanza’s candidate Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.59 per cent of valid votes cast. Azimio la Umoja candidate Odinga won 6,942,930 votes.
But addressing his supporters in Nairobi on Tuesday, Odinga accused the head of the electoral body of a “blatant disregard of the constitution”.
“We totally without reservation reject the presidential election results”, He said.
Odinga said that there was “neither a legally elected winner nor a president-elect” and vowed that his team will pursue all legal options.
The 77-year-old long-time opposition leader was running for president for the fifth time.
He has challenged the results in the previous two elections, including successfully in 2017.
Odinga accused the chairman of the electoral body Wafula Chebukati of “gross impunity”.
Minutes before Odinga spoke, four of seven electoral commissioners who refused to approve Monday’s results held a press conference to explain their decisionIEBC vice-chairperson Juliana Cherera said that if you added the percentages as announced by the chairperson of the commission the sum came to 100.01%
Karua, a lawyer, was a positive force in the 2022 elections, running for the second-highest top job.
However, some commentators have said that this is down to a simple rounding error.
Odinga told his followers, without going into detail, that he would be pursuing legal means, stressing that violence would not be acceptable.
His running mate Martha Karua alluded to that on Twitter after Ruto was declared the winner, stating, “It is not over until it is over”.
“Let no one take the law into their own hands. We are certain justice will prevail,” Odinga said.
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