Citing fears of violence, the IEBC on Friday cancelled Saturday’s rerun of the aborted presidential reruns in four Nyanza counties, the NASA strongholds of Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya.
Security was the issue as opposition supporters had pledged to prevent another election. Religious leaders, elected leaders, civil society and the opposition had appealed to the electoral agency to call off the new polls after they were boycotted on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Friday was handed yet another contentious election case, this one seeking to nullify the presidential rerun that has left 10 people dead, including two shot dead in Bungoma on Friday.
There were unconfirmed reports three more people were slashed to death on Friday in Nairobi’s Kawangware informal settlement. Two groups fought and a building was torched. Police were deployed to separate the two groups.
While President Uhuru Kenyatta was set to be announced winner, NASA leaders dismissed the poll as a sham.
IEBC bowed to pressure from religious leaders, the opposition and security officials and cancelled Saturday’s rerun of the aborted reruns in four Nyanza counties, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya.
Reruns will take place in other areas
On Friday, activist Okiya Omtatah moved to the Supreme Court, arguing the presidential rerun was voided by the withdrawal of NASA flagbearer Raila Odinga.
By 730pm yesterday, Uhuru had 6,760,181 votes (98.3 per cent) against NASA’s Raila Odinga who had withdrawn and called for a countrywide boycott of the reruns on Thursday and today.
Raila, whose name was still on the ballot, garnered 67,041 votes (1 per cent). The other six candidates combined had less than 1 percent of the total votes.
Results of the election started trickling in Friday and early estimates of nationwide turnout below 35 percent dealt a blow to the President’s hopes for a decisive second-term mandate.
Nevertheless, Kenyatta will be sworn in unless another petition challenging the rerun is successful.
Raila has ruled out filing a petition. He says this would legitimise the process he calls rigged and a sham. After the August 8 General Election, he initially ruled out going to court, before dashing to beat the deadline. At least two NGOs had planned to file the Supreme Court challenge, but the Jubilee administration shut them down first.
Any voter could still file the petition and several NGOs opposed to the first election and the rerun are unlikely to let the opportunity pass.
The IEBC on Friday said it had received results sent electronically from all polling stations where voting took place in Thursday’s presidential rerun.
But Chairman Wafula Chebukati said it would “take a long time” before Kenyans have an official tally because all the forms must be physically brought to the National Tallying Centre at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi.
“The verification process will certainly take some time,” Chebukati told a briefing at 1.30pm.
“Once the hard copy results are received from the Returning Officers, they will be verified with the scanned electronic copies from the KIEMS kit and announced,” he said.
While turnout was high in Kenyatta strongholds, voters in vast swathes Raila’s territory heeded his boycott call. They skirmished with police, barricaded roads, lit fires and barred polling stations on NASA turf.
While victory is clear, much less clear is the President’s ability to unite a divided country. Its deep political and ethnic divisions have been exposed during a bloody and chaotic election process extended over three months and multiple court cases.
There was sporadic violence on Friday in Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Bungoma. Police said they shot dead one man who tried to steal an officer’s weapon during a protest in Bungoma county.
The August 8 General Election was annulled on September 1 by the Supreme Court citing major irregularities and illegalities. Turnout had been 80 per cent.
If expected legal challenges fail to show a way out of the crisis — including a possible order for another election, the result will be a protracted and economically damaging stalemate between the Kenyatta and Odinga camps.
Activist Omtatah initially wanted orders to form a caretaker government but was told the High Court has no jurisdiction.
On Friday, he filed a new bid to step the IEBC from completing the fresh polls.
He wants the court to compel the electoral body and Chebukati to hold a fresh presidential election only after holding fresh nominators.
He said the rerun on Thursday was null and void. He cited illegalities determined by the High Court in appointment of all Returning Officers and Parliament’s decision to drastically change election laws so close to the rerun.
High Court judge George Odunga said the appointments were illegal but declined to quash the appointments.
However, an Appeal Court bench suspended Odunga’s findings, which Omtatah is relying on, in part.
Two others cases were filed by Starehe MP Charles Kanyi and an SDA Member Hesbon Omolo seeking to stop Saturday’s rescheduled elections in Nyanza on grounds Saturday is a day of worship for SDA members.
Earlier Nyanza church leaders asked the Jubilee government to respect residents’ decision not to vote in the repeat presidential poll.
They accused the President and DP William Ruto of profiling the Luo community and asked police to respect their dignity.
“When you are seducing a lady and she says no, you should respect her decision. IEBC must therefore leave the Luo community alone. You cannot force us to vote,” Bondo ACK Bishop David Kodia said on Friday.
Addressing the press Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kodia asked police to respect dignity, nationality and human rights.
He said Kenyans expressed themselves in different ways on Thursday: those who voted and those who did not.
“The people from Nyanza have made a decision not to vote in the repeat presidential election and that should be respected by Jubilee government and the IEBC,” Kodia said.
The Bishop said the situation in the country, especially in Nyanza, cannot allow repeat of another election.
“We want to congratulate those who headed the IEBC calls and those who did not because it is their right. They stood firm on their principle,” the Bishop said.
On Friday, NASA dismissed the Thursday presidential rerun as a “Jubilee farce” and shame to Kenya.
In a statement read by co-principal Musalia Mudavadi, NASA also condemned planned repeat in Nyanza.
NASA asked the IEBC to call off the poll and accused the government of “profiling and targeting” the region supporting Raila.
“We read mischief in the move by IEBC to postpone elections only in Nyanza counties. This amounts to ethnic profiling,” Mudavadi said.
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