Kenyatta Named Winner of Kenyan Vote Rerun as Odinga Cries Foul

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was announced as the landslide winner of a chaotic election rerun that his main rival Raila Odinga rejected as a sham.

Kenyatta, 56, won 7.48 million votes, or 98.3 percent of the total cast on Oct. 26, Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission, said Monday in Nairobi, the capital. The turnout was 38.8 percent, down from 79 percent in an Aug. 8 contest that also handed victory to Kenyatta and the Supreme Court nullified because proper voting procedures weren’t followed — a decision that’s unprecedented in Africa.

“I am satisfied that we were able to meet the conditions that enabled the commission to deliver what to us, and I believe to all Kenyans and observers, is a free, fair and credible election,” Chebukati said. “The commission ensured that everything required of us by law was put in place for the conduct of the election.”

The results declaration doesn’t signal an end to a political crisis that’s dragged down growth in East Africa’s largest economy and scarred its reputation as one of the continent’s top investment destinations, with the outcome likely to be challenged again in court. Odinga, who boycotted the rerun after the electoral commission refused to heed his demands to change personnel and voting procedures, has called for a national defiance campaign against what he describes as an illegitimate administration and another vote within 90 days.

About 78 people have died in election-related violence since the initial vote, mostly in clashes between the security forces and opposition supporters. Ethnic tensions have also flared between members of Odinga’s Luo community and Kenyatta’s Kikuyu group, raising fears of a repetition of the more widespread violence that ensued after a contested 2007 vote and claimed at least 1,100 lives.

Violent protests forced the electoral commission to cancel the ballot in the western Nyanza region — a move that may call the vote’s legitimacy into question. Legal challenges to the outcome must be lodged within seven days and the Supreme Court will have 14 days to make a ruling.

While the constitution states that the election must be held in every constituency, the electoral laws allow for tallies from areas to be excluded if they won’t affect the final result, said Karim Anjarwalla, managing partner at law firm Anjarwalla & Khanna in Nairobi.“It is too early to say whether a future petition, if filed, may be successful,” he said by email. ‘

Kenyatta has said Kenya can’t remain “in a perpetual state of politicking” and he’s ready to talk to the opposition once the electoral process is complete. Odinga, 72, a former prime minister who failed to secure the presidency in elections in 1997, 2007 and 2013, has said the only thing he’s willing to discuss is a date for a fresh vote.

“Kenyans are tired of this illegitimate regime,” Odinga said in an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corp. “We do not want to institutionalize election rigging. The moment people lose faith in the electoral process then anarchy becomes the order of the day.”

The standoff has unnerved investors, with the yield on the government’s international bonds due in 2024 climbing 25 basis points to 6.27 percent since the election was annulled on Sept. 1. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance, a business lobby group, estimates the prolonged unrest and political uncertainty has lopped the equivalent of $6.75 billion off the nation’s $71 billion gross domestic product.

Many of Odinga’s supporters in his stronghold of Kisumu say they are determined to get rid of Kenyatta no matter how long it takes.

“All we want is fairness,” said Ed Okoth, 31, a shoe salesman in the city, about 264 kilometers (164 miles) west of Nairobi. “Raila is doing the right thing. I am willing to suffer economically. I still continue to support the protesters. We are fighting for the generations to come, we are fighting for the ideal of democracy.”

Source: Bloomberg Business News