Incumbent Kenyatta declared winner of repeat Kenyan poll

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has been declared winner of the recent Kenyan election re-run after garnering 98.27 per cent of the valid votes cast. Kenyatta mobilized about 7,483,895 votes beating his main rival Raila Amollo Odinga of the National Super Alliance. Odinga had earlier on called on his supporters to boycott the polls that were characterized by low turnout compared to the previous election held in August. In his calls for boycott, Odinga had called for electoral reforms before any other elections could conducted, following the nullification by the earlier results by the country’s Supreme Court. Despite this however, his name appeared on the ballot papers as he had not signed a withdrawal form as the country’s constitution mandate. While declaring the winner, the Chairperson of the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati said that they were satisfied that the election had met all conditions necessary to be termed as free, fair and credible. “I am satisfied that we were able to meet these conditions to deliver what to us, and I believe, observers, was a free, fair and credible election,” he said. The election did not take place in 25 of the 290 constituencies in the country due to what the chairman of the electoral commission termed as voter intimidation and security risks the election officials were exposed to. In his acceptance speech, Uhuru said that he was ready to abide by the country’s constitution if his win was challenged in a court of law. My victory today is just part of a process that is likely to once again be subjected to a constitutional test through our courts, he said, adding “I will submit to this constitutional path regardless of the outcome. He however called on citizens to avoid engaging in violence and actions that could disrupt the stability of the country to enable the country get back on track. In the first round of elections held on August 8, Kenyatta had won by 54.2 per cent of votes with 8,203,290 votes while his main rival Odinga got 6,762,224 votes. The previous election were later nullified by the Supreme Court after a petition by the official opposition party National Super Alliance (NASA) on the basis that it did not comply with constitutional provisions. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Incumbent Kenyatta declared winner of repeat Kenyan poll