Kenya: Opposition Leader Rejects Presidential Election Results

After a long vote count, amid tensions between the two most voted candidates for the Kenyan presidency, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Tuesday that he will not recognize William Ruto's victory and will take legal action.

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Deputy President William Ruto was officially announced as the winner on Monday by a narrow margin. Considered a peaceful election but with irregularities and a subsequent round without violence, the statement of the eternal presidential candidate of not recognizing the results could reignite this African country after 14 years ago, another electoral process was hit by a wave of clashes and chaos.

Odinga argued that the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Wafula Chebukati, showed contempt for the Constitution by announcing the unilaterally processed results. "What we saw yesterday (Monday) was a travesty and blatant disregard for the constitution of Kenya," said Odinga during a press conference, pointing to the responsibility of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) chairman.

His announcement came shortly after four electoral commissioners stood by their decision to repudiate the election result, saying Chebukati had announced the results without the participation of all the commissioners.

"The results of the presidential elections held on August 9, 2022, declared and announced by Mr. Wafula Chebukati on August 15, 2022, belonged to himself and do not represent the (position) of the commission," said the electoral body's deputy chairman, Juliana Cherera.

The commissioners also said Chebukati failed to address some of the political parties' complaints before announcing victory.

The defeated candidate, 77, also assured that he would employ "all possible legal options" to contest the result in the face of "the numerous flaws in the elections," although he did not detail his strategy.

Fifteen years ago, after his defeat in 2007, a wave of violence with ethnic overtones was unleashed, leaving more than 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.