The Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has rejected as «null and void the result of a presidential election that he was declared to have lost, and pledged to challenge the outcome with «all constitutional and legal options». Odinga said he would channel his complaints through appropriate authorities, in his first comments since William Ruto, the deputy president, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote by the electoral commission chair, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday. We totally and without reservations reject the presidential results announced yesterday by Mr Chebukati, said Odinga on Tuesday. His announcement came shortly after four electoral commissioners said they stood by their decision to disown the outcome of the election, saying Chebukati had declared the results without the involvement of all commissioners.
The results of the presidential elections held on August 9th 2022, declared and announced by Mr Wafula Chebukati on August 15th, 2022 belonged to himself and do not represent of the commission, said the deputy chair of the electoral body, Juliana Cherera. The commissioners also said Chebukati did not address some of the political parties’ complaints before calling the win. Odinga is expected to file a case with the courts in the coming weeks. However, lawyers said Odinga may not have strong legal grounds.
Odinga has not spoken to any substantive issues of law or fact regarding why he is disputing the results, said Javas Bigambo, a lawyer and political analyst. He is saying that Chebukati made the announcement without involving the four other commissioners who have sidestepped the declaration of the results, but the commission does not make a decision about the results – it only announces it. It’s possible that Odinga is finding a political way of giving psychological healing to his supporters so that he does not seem to have just thrown in the towel after the declaration of results and put them on the path of slow acceptance, said Bigambo.
