 |
Kenya's
Deputy President and presidential candidate William Ruto casts his vote during
the general elections, at Kosachei Primary School, Kenya August 9, 2022.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Official
results, as reported by the media on Monday, indicated that Deputy President
William Ruto was leading opposition leader Raila Odinga in the fight for the
presidency.
The
most economically developed nation in East Africa, which was shaken by violent
post-election protests after contested elections in 2007, is again experiencing
an economic and social crisis as a result of the electoral commission's slow
progress in tallying Tuesday's vote.
Global
increases in food and fuel prices have impacted the poor Kenyans already
suffering from COVID-19, and the country's north has been devastated by the
worst drought in 40 years, leaving 4.1 million people in need of food assistance
while its debt levels have increased.
The
commission put Odinga in the lead with 54% of the vote and Ruto on 45% in its
most recent report of officially certified results on Saturday with a little
more than 25% of the ballots counted. However, subsequent counts by Kenyan
media outlets and Reuters placed Odinga at 48% and Ruto at 51-52%.
Party
officials flocked to the tallying center where the announcement will be made,
where they were entertained by singers who urged restraint. Inside the theater,
a circle of police officers formed.
A
candidate must receive 50% of the vote plus one to win.
After
a falling out with Ruto during the previous election, President Uhuru Kenyatta,
who has already exceeded his two-term limit, endorsed Odinga this time.
Ruto
heads the Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) Alliance and served as a lawmaker and
minister for agriculture before becoming deputy president.
Odinga
is running for president under the Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity)
Alliance, which includes Kenyatta's Jubilee party. He is a former cabinet
minister and prime minister.
Across
the country, some businesses were closed, and crowds gathered around TV sets
displaying events at the tallying centre while others hurriedly stocked up on
groceries.
CHECKS AND BALANCES
Media
reported more than three quarters of votes counted.
In
official verified results reported by the independent and privately owned
Nation Media Group, with 253 constituencies counted out of a total of 291, Ruto
had 51% of the vote and Odinga 48%.
The
Standard Group - likewise independent and privately owned - reported Ruto
ahead, again with 51% of the vote against Odinga's 48% and also with 253
constituencies tallied.
A
Reuters tally of 268 preliminary constituency-level results at 1100 GMT on
Monday showed Ruto on 52% and Odinga at 48%. Two minor candidates shared less
than a percent between them.
Reuters
did not include 20 forms in the count because they lacked signatures and
totals, were illegible or had other problems.
The
preliminary tally was based on forms that were subject to revision if any
discrepancies were discovered during the official verification process.
The
many checks and balances were designed to try to prevent the kind of
allegations of rigging that provoked violence after the 2007 vote, when more
than 1,200 people were killed.
In
2017, after the Supreme Court quashed the result over irregularities in the
electoral process, more than 100 were killed.
Crispinus
Kokonya in Eldoret, a region where Ruto has his largest support base, said the
outcome was still unclear.
"So
we are now waiting upon Chebukati... what he says we will follow," he said
referring to the electoral commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Others
said the wait was damaging business.
"We
are losing money - it's causing a lot of anxiety and anger," said Alphonce
Otieno Odhiambo a farmer and a motor bike taxi driver in Kisumu, an Odinga
stronghold.
0 Comments