Kenya Presidential Candidate Rejects Result

Kenyan presidential candidate, Raila Odinga has rejected the results of Kenya’s presidential election.

Mr. Odinga said that the figures announced on Monday were “null and void.”

According to the official results, Mr. Odinga narrowly lost to Deputy President William Ruto.

Mr. 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.

Making his remarks in front of supporters in the capital, Nairobi, he said that there was “neither a legally elected winner nor a president-elect.”

However, the chairman of the electoral body Wafula Chebukati said he got 48.8% of the vote in last Tuesday’s election compared to Mr. Ruto’s 50.5%.

Accusation
Mr. Odinga accused Mr. Chebukati of “gross impunity” saying his team will pursue all legal options. He called his declaration “a major setback” to Kenya’s democracy that could trigger a political crisis.

He said that Mr. Chebukati went against the law by announcing the result without the backing of his fellow commissioners. But an ally of Mr. Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, told newsmen that commissioners are required to collate the results but do not determine the result.

This is a legal point that may in the end have to be tested in court.

Report says minutes before Mr. Odinga spoke, four of seven electoral commissioners who refused to approve Monday’s results, held a press conference to give their reasons.

They accused Mr. Chebukati of side-lining them and of announcing results that were full of “mathematic absurdity and defied logic.”

The vice-chairperson of the commission, Juliana Cherera, said that if you added the percentages as announced by the chairperson of the commission the sum came to 100.01%.

Commendation
Mr. Odinga has however commended the four commissioners for their “heroism.

“The majority of the electoral commission who stood up to the bullying and illegal conduct of Mr. Chebukati, we are proud of them and ask them not to fear anything. Kenyans are with them,” he said.

On Monday, Mr. Ruto described the objections of the commissioners as a “side-show”, but said he would respect a legal process.

He also called for unity, saying he wanted to be a president for all, and for the country to focus on the future.

BBC/CO