Kenya: I’ll respect election petition outcome – Odinga
Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga has expressed absolute commitment to respect Supreme Court’s verdict on the presidential election petition he filed challenging the declaration that made his main political rival Dr. William Ruto President-Elect.
Raila Odinga and his Running Mate Martha Karua August 22 filed a petition at the Kenya’s apex court, challenging the outcome of the August 9 presidential election.
In a recent press conference, Odinga reaffirmed his confidence in the Supreme Court ruling despite saying that he won the just concluded presidential election.
Odinga said he had proof that he had won the election, which requires a candidate to receive 50% of the vote plus one. He wants a recount.
The 77-year-old politician lost his fifth bid for the presidency by a narrow margin of around 230,000 votes less than two percentage points.
Since 2002, no presidential election in Kenya has gone uncontested, with this year’s outcome also causing a rift within the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which oversaw the poll.
According to a copy of the 72-page petition seen by African Editors, Odinga’s be Legal Team alleges that IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati failed to tally around 140,000 votes.
As a result, Ruto “did not meet the constitutional threshold of 50% plus 1 of the valid votes cast” — a requirement for him to be declared the winner.
Judges now have less than a week to issue a ruling. If they order an annulment, a new vote must be held within 60 days.
Raila Odinga has described the announcement of William Ruto President-Elect by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati as ‘travesty of justice’ on grounds that 4 top officials of the IEBC decline from being part of the final results declared, alleging opaque manner the polls outcome was collated getting to the tail end of the tallying process.
But, the IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati has debunked the allegation by his 4 deputies, accusing them of an illegal attempts to declare a re-run results that will deny William Ruto already won victory. According to Chebukati, Kenya’s electoral law gives him the green light to declare that outcomes of how Kenyans voted and did not need the inputs of the 4 top officials to discharge his constitutional mandate.
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