Six days after the presidential election in Kenya, the electoral commission declared Vice President William Ruto the winner. As the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Wafula Chebukati, announced in Nairobi on Monday, Ruto prevailed with almost 50.5 percent of the votes against long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga, who received almost 48.9 percent of the votes. However, four of the seven members of the election commission had distanced themselves from the election results shortly before the official announcement.
“We cannot take any responsibility for the result,” said the electoral commission’s vice chair, Juliana Cherera, on behalf of three other colleagues. As a reason, she referred to an “opaque” process, but initially gave no details. More information would be announced at a later date, Cherera said, urging people to “calm”.
Odinga initially did not comment on the official election result. Protests broke out in a slum in the capital Nairobi, where the 77-year-old opposition leader has a lot of support. The police fired shots with live ammunition. In the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, police used tear gas against demonstrators who threw stones and set up road blockades.
“We were scammed,” said 24-year-old protester Isaac Onyango. The election must be repeated and Odinga must become president. “We will continue to protest until Kenya’s Supreme Court hears us.”
The mood in the East African country is extremely tense. Since 2002, every election has been contentious. In 2007 and 2008 in particular, there was post-election violence that killed more than 1,100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Even before the election it was clear that it would end in a duel between Ruto and Odinga. During the election campaign, the two rivals had promised to respect the result of a free and transparent vote and to take any doubts to the courts and not to use violence on the streets.
After the election results were announced, Ruto announced that he would work with “all” top politicians. “There is no place for revenge,” Ruto said, adding, “I am very aware that our country is at a point where we need all hands on deck.”
Should Odinga actually go to court, it would be many weeks before the successor to President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was not allowed to run again after two terms in office, would take office. (AFP)
