Kenya decides: Uhuru Kenyatta wins the Presidential race by 98%
Wafula Chebukati, the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson has on Monday 30. October announced Uhuru Kenyatta, the president elect of Kenya’s repeat polls.
Mr. Kenyatta according to the IEBC Chairperson, won the election by 98.2%, in an election which this time is said to have been free, fair and credible.
‘I‘m satisfied that we were able to meet conditions that enabled the commission to deliver a free, fair and credible election,’ Mr. Chebukati said.
‘I am confident we did everything to ensure every Kenyan exercised their right to vote….We came up with a fresh presidential election management team to address concerns. To us as IEBC, all Kenyans and observers, we have had a free, fair and credible election,’ he added.
He further assured the nation Chebukati expressed that the turn out of the voters was about 38 percent of the registered number of voters which is 19.6 million.
‘The total votes cast were 7,616,217 million and rejected ballots 37,713. This translates to a national voter turnout of 38.84 per cent,’ Chairman Wafula Chebukati said.
From the 7,616,217 total votes, Mr. Kenyatta was announced to have swept away 7,483,895, which have seen him to being announced president elect.
This is the second time Uhuru Kenyatta has won the presidency of Kenya in this year, however, the first time, his win was nullified. Kenya held her first polls on August 8 which in the end Mr. Kenyatta had won against his long time rival Raila Odinga. However, Mr. Odinga headed to the Supreme Court and petitioned against Kenyatta’s win. At the end of the hearing, the August polls’ results were nullified after the judges sighted irregularities and illegalities, as they termed it.
The judges and Mr. Odinga also sought for new polls (26 October), which Odinga set conditions for, for his participation and when they were not met, he withdrew from the race, calling it a sham election he could not see himself participate.
Odinga wanted Ezra Chiloba and some other IEBC officials to resign from office after accusations that they were responsible for the August polls’ irregularities and illegalities.
Anti-IEBC demonstrations have been going on in Kenya backed by Raila Odinga in a bid to have the repeat polls further postponed but the technique didn’t seem to have worked.
Odinga, just days to the election asked his supporters to boycott the polls, which explains the below 38 percent turn up.
In some counties of Raila Odinga strongholds, the residents are reported to have blocked the roads, lit tires and barred the electoral commissioners from reaching them hence calling off elections from those areas.
Mr. Odinga reacting to Mr. Kenyatta’s win has stated that the election was, ‘Uhuru versus Uhuru.’
The NASA party, whose flag bearer is Raila Odinga has vowed to swear in Mr. Odinga as president.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu