Cries of foul play in Kenya as election results show narrow margins
2 years, 3 months ago

Cries of foul play in Kenya as election results show narrow margins

The Hindu  

Published : Sep 08, 2022 11:00 IST Electoral contests in Kenya have been heated affairs since the end of one-party rule two decades ago. According to the results put out by Kenya’s election commission, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, veteran politician Raila Odinga, leading the Orange Democratic Movement, lost the election by around 2,30,000 votes. Uhuru Kenyatta, who was Odinga’s bitter political rival until the last presidential election, had in a surprising move backed Odinga’s candidacy over that of his serving Vice President. “Voter apathy, especially among the youth, was a major factor responsible for Odinga’s surprise defeat.” In the last election, Odinga refused to acknowledge Kenyatta’s victory, and his supporters had conducted an “oath-taking” ceremony proclaiming him the “People’s President”. Jomo Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga were the two major leaders of Kenya’s independence struggle.

Election Kenya Voters President Chinese His Supporters Vice President Moi Ruto Kenyans Kenyatta Many Kenyans Odinga Uhuru Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta Kikuyu Kalenjin Previous Elections  odingas  voters  odinga  play  margins  kenyatta  kenyas  election  kenya  president  kenyans  foul  results  narrow  ruto  cries

History of this topic

Kenyan police fire tear gas, arrest opposition figures at protest
1 year, 9 months ago

Kenyan police fire tear gas, arrest opposition figures at protest

Al Jazeera  

The nationwide protests are against the rising cost of living in Kenya and the election victory of President William Ruto. The Kenyan police have used tear gas and arrested several senior opposition politicians as hundreds of people protested against President William Ruto, the high cost of living and claims of cheating in last year’s election. Veteran political figure Raila Odinga, …

Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds Ruto’s narrow presidential win
2 years, 3 months ago

Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds Ruto’s narrow presidential win

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday unanimously rejected challenges to the official results of the presidential election and upheld Deputy President William Ruto’s narrow win in East Africa’s most stable democracy. In his first comments Monday night, he didn’t mention Ruto by name but said “it is my intention to oversee a smooth transition to the next administration.” …

Kenya's Supreme Court upholds William Ruto's narrow presidential win
2 years, 3 months ago

Kenya's Supreme Court upholds William Ruto's narrow presidential win

The Hindu  

Kenya's Supreme Court has unanimously rejected challenges to the official results of the presidential election and upheld Deputy President William Ruto's win. The commission “needs far-reaching reforms,” the court acknowledged, “but are we to nullify an election on the basis of a last-minute boardroom rupture?” The court shocked Kenyans in the previous election in 2017 by overturning the results of …

Kenya presidential vote loser files Supreme Court challenge
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya presidential vote loser files Supreme Court challenge

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga has filed a Supreme Court challenge to last week’s election result, asserting that the process was marked by criminal subversion and seeking that the outcome be nullified and a new vote be ordered. It asserts “premeditated unlawful and criminal subversion of the integrity and constitutionality of the electoral process in order …

U.S. congressional delegation in Kenya amid election crisis
2 years, 4 months ago

U.S. congressional delegation in Kenya amid election crisis

The Hindu  

A U.S. congressional delegation has arrived in Kenya to meet with the new President-elect and the opposition figure likely to file a court challenge to his election loss in the latest electoral crisis for East Africa’s most stable democracy. President-elect William Ruto is Mr. Kenyatta’s deputy president, but the two fell out years ago, and Mr. Kenyatta in the election …

Kenya’s president-elect will ‘engage’ in any court challenge
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya’s president-elect will ‘engage’ in any court challenge

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan president-elect William Ruto says that if there’s a court challenge to the election results, “we will engage in those” as East Africa’s most stable democracy awaits a likely petition from losing candidate Raila Odinga. Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president, was declared the winner of last week’s close election on Monday, but the electoral commission publicly split minutes …

William the 5th: How Ruto went from streets to Kenyan presidency
2 years, 4 months ago

William the 5th: How Ruto went from streets to Kenyan presidency

Al Jazeera  

In William Ruto’s first presidential bid, history and hustle helped him outwit the sitting president and a political veteran. The announcement signalled that Ruto had outsmarted two of his former bosses and allies – perennial aspirant Raila Odinga and his backer, sitting President Uhuru Kenyatta – in the race to become the country’s fifth president. By December that year, when …

Kenya’s Odinga says he will challenge close election loss
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya’s Odinga says he will challenge close election loss

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Opposition figure Raila Odinga said Tuesday that he would challenge the results of Kenya’s close presidential election with “all constitutional and legal options” after Deputy President William Ruto was declared the winner, bringing new uncertainty to East Africa’s most stable democracy. It was Odinga’s first appearance since Kenya’s electoral commission chairman declared Ruto the winner Monday with …

Kenya's Raila Odinga vows to pursue 'legal options' over vote defeat
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya's Raila Odinga vows to pursue 'legal options' over vote defeat

The Hindu  

Kenya's defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga vowed on Tuesday to pursue "all constitutional and legal options" after rejecting the outcome of elections that awarded victory to his rival William Ruto. No presidential poll outcome has gone uncontested in Kenya since 2002, and Mr. Odinga says he was already cheated of victory in the 2007, 2013 and 2017 elections. "I will …

Defeated Kenyan presidential candidate to challenge election result
2 years, 4 months ago

Defeated Kenyan presidential candidate to challenge election result

The Independent  

Kenya is on tenterhooks after defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga called into question the validity of the country’s election result, dismissing it as “null and void”. The day after his opponent William Ruto was announced as the president-elect by a thin margin, Mr Odinga said he will challenge the verdict in the country’s courts. His comments came shortly after four …

Kenya’s Ruto declared president after last-minute chaos
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya’s Ruto declared president after last-minute chaos

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — In a chaotic announcement that could foreshadow a court challenge, Kenya’s electoral commission chairman on Monday declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the country’s close presidential race over five-time contender Raila Odinga. Odinga’s campaign alleged that unspecified “electoral offenses” were committed and that a winner was illegally declared without a quorum of commissioners. Odinga’s campaign …

Kenya's William Ruto declared President-elect
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya's William Ruto declared President-elect

The Hindu  

Kenya’s electoral commission chairman has declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the close presidential election over five-time contender Raila Odinga, a triumph for the man who shook up politics by appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not on traditional ethnic ones. The sudden split in the commission came minutes after Odinga’s chief agent said they could …

Drama, disappointment in Nairobi as Ruto wins Kenyan election
2 years, 4 months ago

Drama, disappointment in Nairobi as Ruto wins Kenyan election

Al Jazeera  

There was drama and disagreement across parts of the Kenyan capital after Deputy President Ruto was declared president-elect. She was ready to spend another week celebrating if former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, her candidate for president and a massive favourite in Kibera, won, she told Al Jazeera on Monday afternoon. Just after 6pm, Wafula Chebukati, chairperson of the Independent Electoral …

Brief scuffles slow tallying in Kenya’s close election
2 years, 4 months ago

Brief scuffles slow tallying in Kenya’s close election

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s peaceful presidential election saw a brief disruption when riot police responded to scuffles at the national tallying center amid tensions over the close results. “We must all avoid raising tensions that could easily trigger violence,” local human rights groups and professional associations said in a joint statement Sunday urging restraint from candidates and their supporters. The …

Kenya’s close presidential election draws fewer voters
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya’s close presidential election draws fewer voters

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Fewer Kenyans voted Tuesday in an unusual presidential election where a longtime opposition leader who is backed by the outgoing president faces the brash deputy president who styles himself as the outsider. “I have confidence that the people of Kenya are going to speak loudly in favor of democratic change,” Odinga told journalists. Outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, …

Explained | Why Kenya's presidential election is important
2 years, 4 months ago

Explained | Why Kenya's presidential election is important

The Hindu  

Kenyans vote Tuesday to choose a successor to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The 55-year-old Mr. Ruto promotes himself to the young and poor as a “hustler” who rose from humble beginnings as a chicken seller in contrast to the elite backgrounds of Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga. The 77-year-old Mr. Odinga, famous for being jailed while fighting for multi-party democracy decades …

Kenya’s election rips open scars of inequality, corruption
2 years, 4 months ago

Kenya’s election rips open scars of inequality, corruption

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — In the shadow of a glossy, thousand-dollar campaign billboard, one of many across Kenya’s capital, street vendors struggle to make even 200 shillings a day and often pocket none. “But I’m a poor man, and maybe the way I talk is distant from the way it is.” Rising prices for food and fuel, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion …

Fifty days to D-day: The men vying to become Kenya’s next president
2 years, 6 months ago

Fifty days to D-day: The men vying to become Kenya’s next president

Al Jazeera  

Nairobi, Kenya – On August 9, Kenyans head to the polls to elect their next president. The two main challengers remain opposition leader Raila Odinga, for whom Kenyatta has publicly declared his support, and William Ruto, the president’s deputy. Odinga, one of Kenya’s most popular politicians, is the patriarch of a dynasty that began with his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, …

Top Kenyan presidential candidate picks female running mate
2 years, 7 months ago

Top Kenyan presidential candidate picks female running mate

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday chose a former justice minister as his running mate in elections set for August, making her the first-ever female candidate on a major presidential ticket in the East African country. Martha Karua, an attorney and seasoned politician, has a reputation for speaking her mind and could prove a popular choice …

Who do Kenyans want for their next president?
2 years, 8 months ago

Who do Kenyans want for their next president?

Al Jazeera  

On Monday, April 25 at 19:30 GMT: Kenya is set to hold general elections on August 9 and Kenyans are bracing themselves for a tumultuous run-up to the polls. President Uhuru Kenyatta will stand down after serving the maximum of two five-year terms, but he doesn’t leave his deputy president William Ruto with his endorsement. Ruto, who served as a …

Kenya’s President Kenyatta backs his former rival Odinga in polls
2 years, 9 months ago

Kenya’s President Kenyatta backs his former rival Odinga in polls

Al Jazeera  

The move comes weeks after the two leaders’ parties joined forces ahead of a general election in August. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has endorsed his former archrival for the country’s top job, weeks after their parties joined forces ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in August. “We have chosen Raila Odinga, without any opposition, to be the fifth president of …

Kenyan opposition leader Odinga announces fifth bid for president
3 years ago

Kenyan opposition leader Odinga announces fifth bid for president

Al Jazeera  

Odinga says he is committed to building ‘democratic and progressive Kenya’ as battle for Kenyatta’s successor heats up. Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga has announced he would make his fifth bid for Kenya’s presidency in next year’s election, ending months of suspense following a surprise truce with his former foe, President Uhuru Kenyatta. The truce, known universally as “the handshake”, …

Discover Related