Raila meets US, UK and EU diplomats ahead of repeat polls

Opposition leader Raila Odinga on Friday met with convoys to discuss election related matters ahead of the October 26 vote.

"We exchanged views on the country's political situation which proved to be very fruitful," the NASA leader said via Facebook.

Raila was accompanied by chief campaigner Musalia Mudavadi and Siaya Senator James Orengo at the Capitol hill where the discussion took place.

"NASA appreciates the keen interest that the US, EU and UK have taken in the Kenyan electoral process," the NASA leader said.

The diplomats were led by US Ambassador Robert Godec and Chief Observer EU Monitoring Kenya Marietje Schaake.

NASA leader Raila Odinga in a meeting with diplomats at his Capitol hill office on Friday./ODM

After the August 8 election, diplomats and regional leaders mounted pressure on Raila to concede defeat.

This was after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner of the presidential poll by 1.4 million votes.

International observers said the election was largely fair but Raila disputed the results, saying it was rigged.

Raila moved to Court and the results were nullified by the Supreme Court after irregularities were found.

More on this: Pressure grows on Raila to concede election defeat

Last week, the EU Observers found some technical problems with the August vote but they noted that there were no evidence of vote-rigging.

The finding was announced as Kenya geared up for a re-run of the contest between President Uhuru Kenyatta and challenger Raila Odinga on Oct. 26.

NASA leader Raila Odinga with US ambassador Robert Godec at his Capitol hill office on Friday./ODM

Credible elections would boost Kenya's role as East Africa's richest economy and a stable Western ally in a region roiled by conflict.

But problems with the vote could spark unrest: 1,200 people died in violence after a disputed 2007 election.

Bolstering the Supreme Court's findings of technical irregularities, the EU said in a statement it had examined 1,558 randomly selected scanned polling station results forms from 82 constituencies.

A small percentage were unreadable, others had mathematical mistakes, and others were missing data or signatures.

Read: Reform election processes before October vote, EU observers tell IEBC

Also read: EU mounts pressure on IEBC to post election results online

Source