NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya’s Azimio La Umoja Coalition Presidential candidate Raila Odinga has rejected the results of the 2022 Presidential election where UDA Party candidate William Ruto was declared the winner.
Addressing the media on
Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Odinga announced he would be heading to court to
challenge the results which he termed as null and void.
He accused the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati of
violating the Constitution and electoral laws in his decision to declare Ruto
as President-elect.
"What we saw yesterday
was a travesty of the laws of Kenya by Wafula Chebukati and a minority of IEBC
commissioners... The figures announced by Wafula Chebukati are null and void
and must be quashed by a court of law. In our view there is no legally declared
president-elect," said Odinga.
"Mr. Chebukati’s
announcement purporting to announce a winner is a nullity. He (Chebukati)
acted with gross impunity and in total disregard of the Constitution and our
laws."
Odinga claims that Chebukati exercised dictatorship and erred in law by proceeding to announce the election results despite four of the IEBC commissioners rejecting the results.
"The law is clear on the
role of the chairperson of the IEBC. The law does not vest in the chairperson
the powers of a dictator to rule the IEBC unilaterally," said Odinga.
"The IEBC is structured as a democratic institution
in which decisions must be taken either by consensus or by a vote of the
majority. The chairperson and a tiny minority of commissioners have no legal
authority to take weighty decisions and proclaim them as the rulings of the
IEBC."
Mr. Odinga claims Chebukati denied IEBC commissioners
access to the final tally of the presidential election results before the
official declaration of the election outcome Tuesday afternoon.
“I, Azimio and the nation at large, were shocked
yesterday to learn that Mr. Chebukati alone decided to pronounce himself on the
supposed winner of the 2022 presidential elections. We understand that
only Mr. Chebukati alone had access to the tally of the presidential vote,”
said Odinga.
“He (Chebukati) denied all the
commissioners access to that information until he suddenly appeared before the
commissioners in the late afternoon to present them with a fait accompli.”
Odinga called on his
supporters to remain calm, as his team explores legal avenues to have the
announcement by Chebukati nullified in court.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I
want to repeat that we totally and without reservations reject the presidential
results announced yesterday by Mr. Chebukati,” said Odinga.
“I want to commend our
supporters for remaining calm and keeping the peace, and I urge them to
continue to do so. Let no one take the law into their own hands. We
are pursuing constitutional and lawful channels and processes to invalidate Mr.
Chebukati’s illegal and unconstitutional pronouncement. We are certain that
justice will prevail,” said Odinga.
He also commended the four
IEBC commissioners who walked out of Bomas to disown the results that were
announced by Chebukati.
Odinga described the act by
IEBC Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera, commissioners Irene Masit, Justus
Nyang'anya and Francis Wanderi as “heroic”.
“I want to further commend the
heroism of the FOUR commissioners – the majority of the IEBC – who stood up to
the bullying and illegal conduct of Mr. Chebukati. WE are proud of them
and ask them not to fear anything. Kenyans are with them,” he said. -
CitizenTV
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