By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Former Prime Minister of Kenya and the presidential candidate of Azimio La Umoja Party in the just concluded election, Raila Odinga has rejected the result of the election, describing it as travesty, null and void, insisting he will approach the court of law to seek redress.
The presidential election produced the Deputy President, William Ruto as winner with 50.49 percent of the vote against veteran politician Odinga’s 48.5 percent .
At a press conference on Tuesday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Odinga said he “without reservation rejected the election results announced August 15 as Kenya’s electoral body proclaimed William Ruto as president elect.”
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman, Wafula Chebukati announced that Ruto won, a decision that has since sparked violence protest in Kenya.
Odinga said, “The figures are null and void and must be quashed by the courts of law. What we saw yesterday was a travesty and a blatant disregard of the constitution of Kenya by Chebukati”.
Odinga, 77, disclosed that his Azimio La Umoja Party (One Kenya Coalition Party) will now opt for the Supreme Court to seek justice.
“In our view, there’s neither a legally and valid declared winner nor a president elect. I do not want to fully address our strategies going forward but…we will be pursuing all constitutional and legal options available to us,” he remarked.
Majority top IEBC commissioners who denounced Monday’s vote also held a press conference on Tuesday reiterating that Chebukati solely arrived at the final tally.
“The law does not vest in the chairperson, the powers of a dictator to rule IEBC unilaterally… decisions must be taken by consensus or by a vote of the majority,” Odinga reacted.
