Ruto’s Win a key ‘milestone,’ US Embassy Says
The US embassy in Kenya congratulated Kenyans on their peaceful election and urged all parties to work together to peacefully resolve any remaining concerns.
It called William Ruto’s election as Kenya’s president-elect a “important milestone in the electoral process.”
“Going forward, we urge all parties to work together to peacefully resolve any remaining concerns about this election through existing dispute resolution mechanisms,” it added.
The embassy urged political leaders to continue urging their supporters to be peaceful and refrain from using violence during the election.
Mr Ruto was declared the election winner with 50.49% of the vote, narrowly defeating his opponent, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Mr Odinga’s poll agents however said they could not verify the result and some electoral commissioners announced that they were unable to “take ownership of the result”.
Mr Ruto has promised to work for all Kenyans, claiming that the election results process was the “most transparent ever” in Kenya.
Celebrations erupted in Mr Ruto strongholds, while protests were reported in Mr Odinga strongholds.
Raila Odinga’s National Chief Agent, Saitabao Ole Kanchory explained Raila Odinga’s absence from Kenya’s national tallying center in Bomas.
Kanchory told the press in an impromptu address that his team does not have verifiable presidential results on which to base their invitation to Bomas.
Kanchory claims they tried in vain to contact the chairman of the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati.
He also claimed that Chebukati avoided meeting with political party agents despite promising to provide them with Forms 34C.
“The agents had been assured to be supplied with Form 34C which bears the result of that election. But the chairman has been avoiding us all day…He has deliberately held himself incommunicado,” Kanchory alleged.
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Kanchory also claimed that they have reason to believe that the recently completed election was a sham and lacked integrity.
Around 5 p.m., some Azimio supporters, including MPs and senators-elect, began to leave Bomas. Some diplomats and observers also left the national tallying center. The Kenya Kwanza side burst into song and dance at this point.
The presidential election declaration was supposed to be announced at 3 p.m., but it was moved to 4 p.m., which elapsed without the announcement.
