The results, rejected by a part of the electoral commission, give William Ruto winner with 233,000 votes in advance on the opponent Rila Odonga, who affirms that certain bulletins have not been counted.
Le Monde with AFP
He had described the results of “parody”. Raila Odonga filed, Monday August 22, an appeal to the Supreme Court contesting the results of the Kenyan presidential election of August 9, who gave him losing behind the outgoing vice-president, William Ruto.
Historical figure of the opposition sustained for this election by outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta, Odonga had announced his intention to challenge the results published by the Independent Electoral Commission and Borders (IEBC), according to which William Ruto was ahead of About 233,000 votes (50.49 % against 48.85 %).
According to the request consulted by the France-Presse agency, Camp Odenga affirms in particular that 140,028 bulletins have not been taken into account and that “this significantly affects the final results insofar as none of (…) candidates does not reach the constitutional threshold of 50 % plus one voice “to take the election in the first round. Other appeals will also be examined by the seven judges of the Supreme Court. A clerk said that a request filed by an individual has been received. Others are expected.
The highest judicial body of Kenya has fourteen days to make its decision and, in the event of cancellation of the ballot, a new election should be held in the sixty days.
results rejected by a Part of the electoral commission
The August 9 election took place in peace, but the announcement of the results on August 15 sparked brief manifestations of anger in certain bastions of Odonga, in Kisumu (in the west) and in the capital.
The proclamation of the results by the president of the IEBC also gave rise to a split within this independent body responsible for the organization of the ballot. Four of the seven commissioners declared to reject the results a few minutes before their announcement, accusing the president of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati, his “opaque” management and his lack of consultation.
m. Chebukati rejected these accusations, claiming to have exercised his prerogatives in accordance with the law of the country, despite “intimidation and harassment”.
systematic disputes for ten years
Observers fear that a prolonged legal dispute will plunge the country into post-electoral disorders that it has known in the past. Since 2002, all the presidential elections in Kenya have been disputed, sometimes giving rise to bloody clashes.
77 years old, Raila Odonga, who was beaten during her four previous candidates for the presidency, is familiar with these courts, which he filed in 2013 and in 2017. That year, the Supreme Court had invalidated the presidential election due to “irregularities” and ordered the holding of a new election, a first in Africa.
In 2007, Odonga also had, without going to court, refused the result, which had triggered the worst post-electoral crisis in the history of the country, with more than 1,100 dead in inter-ethnic clashes. During the 2022 electoral campaign, the two favorites, William Ruto and Raila Odonga, were committed to resolving their possible disputes in justice rather than in the street.