After a last minute of chaos that heralded a court challenge, Kenya's electoral commission chairman, Wafula Chebukat, declared Vice President William Ruto the winner of a disputed presidential election over five-time challenger Raila Odinga on Monday. A triumph for the man who shook up politics by appealing to Kenyans to fight in economic terms and not traditional ethnic ones.
Ruto received 50.49% of the votes with more than 7.1 million votes, Chebukat said, while Odinga received 48.85% with more than 6.9 million votes in peaceful elections last Tuesday.
But just before the proclamation, four of the seven electoral commissioners told reporters that they could not support the "opaque nature" of the final phase of the vote verification process. “We cannot appropriate the result that is going to be announced,” said Vice President Juliana Cherera, without giving details.
At the site of the proclamation, the police intervened to impose calm amid shouts and fights before the announcement of the official results and after two commissioners present there were injured. The bizarre scene unfolded as an on-site choir continued to play and sing.
The sudden split in the commission came minutes after Odinga's top agent said they could not verify the results and filed charges of "election offences" without giving details or evidence. Odinga did not come to the place.
Now Kenyans are waiting to see if Odinga will go to court again to challenge election results in a country crucial to regional stability. This is probably the last attempt for the 77-year-old opposition figure, backed this time by former rival and outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta, who fell out with the new president years ago.
Candidates or others have seven days to file any challenge to the election results. The Supreme Court will have 14 days to rule. Already filled with expectant supporters, the streets of Kenya erupted, in some places with jubilation, in others with anger. Shouting “No Raila, no peace”, Odinga supporters burned tires in Nairobi's crowded Kibera neighborhood as night fell.
Ruto, 55, despite being sidelined by the president, defended himself, telling voters that the election was between "fraudsters" like him from modest backgrounds and the "dynasties" of Kenyatta and Odinga, whose parents were the first president and vice president of Kenya. Odinga has sought the presidency for a quarter of a century.
Ruto in his acceptance speech thanked Odinga and emphasized an election that focused on issues and not ethnic divisions, saying "gratitude goes to millions of Kenyans who refused to be boxed into tribal groups." He added that the people who had acted against his campaign "have nothing to fear ... There is no room for revenge." Turnout in this election fell to 65%, reflecting Kenyans' weariness at seeing the same old political figures on the ballot and frustration with poor economic conditions in East Africa's economic hub.
