By Enyichukwu Enemanna
As counting gets underway in the just concluded presidential election in Kenya, results so far released on Saturday indicates that the former Prime Minister and veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga is ahead of his closest rival, Deputy President William Ruto.
Kenyan electoral umpire had on Saturday displayed on a large screen at the collation center in the capital, Nairobi results so far counted. About 26% of votes have been counted, out of which Odinga had 54% and Ruto had 45%.
Ruto and Odinga are in a tight race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose tenure expires this year.
Kenyatta had endorsed the veteran opposition leader, Odinga against his deputy, Ruto. His relationship with Ruto after the last election had strained.
The slow counting of results of the election which took place Tuesday had fuelled anxiety among the candidates and their supporters.
Election commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati had cautioned Odinga and Ruto against declaring themselves winner, warning that he is the only one authorized to release results.
He blamed party agents, who are allowed to scrutinise results forms before they are added to the final tally.
“Agents in this exercise cannot proceed … as if we are doing a forensic audit,” he told a news briefing on Friday.
“We are not moving as fast as we should. This exercise needs to be concluded as soon as possible.”
