Presidential election in Kenya: a showdown that turns into a dialogue of the deaf
Kenya's former prime minister and opposition leader Raila Odinga (left) and former Kenya Kwanza alliance vice president and presidential candidate William Ruto (right).
AFP - SIMON MAINA
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
On Wednesday August 17, Raila Odinga and his coalition confirmed that they were going to file an appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the announcement of William Ruto's victory by the president of the electoral commission on Monday.
Meanwhile, William Ruto presented the priorities of his future government to the elected members of his coalition, almost as if nothing had happened.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Florence Morice
Raila Odinga's clan persists.
This Wednesday, the elected representatives of his coalition approved the filing of an appeal before the Supreme Court to try to have the victory of William Ruto annulled.
The watchword: do not give up and continue despite the circumstances to be confident, like Martha Karoua yesterday, the running mate of Raila Odinga.
“
Our victory is delayed, but it will come.
And it's a message for everyone.
Thank you for your support.
We won't let you down.
»
At the same time,
William Ruto
, endorsed the presidential costume in a speech in front of the elected officials of his coalition.
He did not mention the name of Raila Odinga and only briefly mentioned the contestation of his election.
His strategy: to move forward and show that he is already projecting himself into the action of his future government.
“
The expectations of the Kenyan people are huge and we cannot afford the luxury of wasting time.
We will soon, as soon as the process is complete, take steps to ensure we run a transparent, democratic and accountable government
.”
William Ruto also promised that his governance would transcend ethnic lines and vowed to ensure that civil servants serve "
all Kenyans equally
", regardless of their "
ethnicity
" or "
political affiliations
".
►
To read also:
Kenya: William Ruto promises a "transparent" government that "is accountable"
Controversy within the Electoral Commission
What happened behind the scenes at the Kenyan Electoral Commission on Monday?
While everyone was waiting for the announcement of the results of the presidential election, 4 of the 7 commissioners dissented and disavowed the results, denouncing an “opaque” process.
On Wednesday August 17, the president of this electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati gave his version of the facts yesterday.
According to the president of the electoral commission, everything would have been played around 3 p.m. Monday.
During a meeting, the four commissioners who would then defect would have tried to put pressure on him to agree to tamper with the results giving William Ruto the winner in order to provoke a second round.
Wafula Chebukati claims to have opposed it.
“
This is tantamount to subverting the Constitution and the sovereign will of the people,
” he denounces in his press release.
He also claims that several members of his staff continue to be "
harassed and intimidated
and that consequently the local elections which could not be held on August 9, and had been adjourned to the 23rd, are again postponed.
He assures that as chairman of the commission, he was perfectly justified in announcing the results, even though four commissioners opposed it.
On Wednesday, the latter tried to clarify their accusations, but part of their argument was based on a miscalculation, which earned them criticism, even mockery on social networks.
Several observers also noted the many similarities between their arguments and the remarks made a few minutes later by
Raila Odinga
to justify his decision to challenge his defeat in court.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Kenya
William Ruto