The outgoing vice-president, William Ruto, won the election on August 9 with 50.49% of the vote, after a count disavowed by a majority of the members of the Electoral Commission.
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The protest is growing after the victory of William Ruto in the presidential election in Kenya. Opponent Raila Odinga, defeated in the first round with 48.85% of the vote, said he rejected the election results on Tuesday August 16.
“What we witnessed yesterday is a travesty and a clear disregard for the Constitution”, said Raila Odinga, who had not made a statement since the announcement of the results on Monday. The historical opponent, candidate for the presidency for the fifth time, was defeated by the outgoing vice-president, who obtained 50.49% of the vote. Raila Odinga called these figures “parody” and promised that he would continue “all legal options” available, while calling on his supporters to calm down.
The majority of the members of the Electoral Commission had itself disavowed the official count of the August 9 election on Monday, the president of this Commission saying that he had suffered “bullying and harassment”. The Supreme Court will have 14 days to decide if it is seized within a week. Otherwise, William Ruto will take office within two weeks.
This is not the first time that Raila Odinga has undertaken electoral appeals. He had already filed in 2013 and 2017, the most recent having led the Supreme Court to invalidate the presidential election due to“irregularities”, a first in Africa. In 2007, he refused the figures without going to court, triggering the worst post-election crisis in the country’s history, with more than 1,100 dead in inter-ethnic clashes.