Kenyan politician Raila Odinga called the outcome of the Aug. 9 presidential election, which he was declared to have lost to Deputy President William Ruto, a “travesty,” and warned of a long legal crisis confronting Kenya’s democracy on Tuesday.
His initial comments on the outcome came after four of the seven election commissioners stated they stuck by their decision to disavow statistics announced by electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati a day earlier.
Fears of violence have been raised following disputed votes in East Africa’s richest country in 2007, when more than 1,200 people were slain, and again in 2017, when more than 100 people were killed.
Overnight, Odinga supporters clashed with police and torched tyres in the western city of Kisumu and Nairobi’s massive Kibera slum, but the streets were peaceful by Tuesday morning.
“In our opinion, the figures announced by Chebukati are null and void and must be annulled by a court of law,” Odinga, a veteran opposition leader and five-time presidential candidate who was backed this time by departing President Uhuru Kenyatta, said.
“What we witnessed yesterday was a travesty,” he told reporters, urging his followers to remain calm. “No one should take the law into their own hands,” he said.
Before taking the podium, Odinga televised the news conference of the dissident commission members. He stated that he was not yet ready to announce particular legal actions.
Odinga has till Monday to submit a constitutional appeal with the Supreme Court.
Speaking on behalf of the four commissioners, electoral commission deputy chair Juliana Cherera stated that the results showing Ruto winning with 50.49% were erroneously aggregated and that Chebukati had ignored concerns voiced by other commissioners concerning the tally.
Cherera eventually admitted that one of her primary allegations was based on a clerical error. She had previously stated that the vote percentages for the race’s four contenders totaled 100.01%, and that the additional 0.01% constituted 142,000 votes, which might potentially tip the result.
Odinga was defeated by Ruto by around 233,000 votes.
In response to a Reuters question, Cherera later admitted that 0.01% of the 14.2 million votes cast was really 1,420, but that the result still demonstrated a lack of data quality control.
Reuters was unable to reach the election commission’s spokesperson for comment.
With memories of post-election killings still fresh, Odinga has faced calls from both home and abroad to commit to addressing any disputes through the courts.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with Ruto on Tuesday and hopes to meet with Odinga on Wednesday, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who added that Guterres hoped the election will be conducted in accordance with the law.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the United States State Department, asked parties to work together to “peacefully settle any outstanding issues about the election” using existing dispute resolution channels, and urged political party leaders to urge supporters to remain peaceful.
“We hope that calm and patience prevail,” Price told reporters, adding that Washington will remain in constant contact with Kenyan allies.
There was scattered clapping in a crowded restaurant in Odinga’s stronghold of Kisumu as supporters watched his remarks rejecting the results and asking for peace. The streets were silent outside.
“There is no reason for protest since we have evidence that Ruto manipulated this thing,” claimed businessman and Odinga supporter Justin Omondi.
Nonetheless, the nocturnal protests demonstrated how fast emotions may rise. On Tuesday, several shops in Kisumu were closed, and roadways were littered with stones and burnt tyre marks.
Nancy Achieng arrived on Tuesday morning to discover her roadside food store in the Kondele neighborhood destroyed.
“I lost the election, and I lost my business,” said Achieng, who had been selling beans, chapati, and roasted maize at the market for two years.
Kenya’s Eurobonds fell after Odinga and the commissioners’ statements, but they were still up on the day, having recovered some of the severe losses suffered on Monday.
Its 2024 dollar-denominated bond was trading at 88.5 cents on the dollar at 1400 GMT, up from almost 92 cents late last week.
Ruto would be confronted with an economic and social catastrophe, as well as mounting debt. Soaring food and fuel prices have slammed poor Kenyans already reeling from the effects of COVID-19, while a terrible drought in the north has left 4.1 million people in need of food aid.
Ruto, 55, made Kenya’s class divisions the centrepiece of his campaign to become the country’s fifth president, pledging to reward low-income “hustlers,” but in his victory address on Monday, claimed to be a president for all Kenyans.
Outgoing President Kenyatta, who could not run again after serving two five-year terms, split with his deputy Ruto and backed Odinga.
