Wait for results tests patience
AT AN intersection in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, two groups of men stand on opposite street corners, gathered around newspaper stands, and whooping and gesturing at results so far from Tuesday’s election.
In the presidential vote, both groups have something to cheer – even though those on the north side are avid supporters of Raila Odinga, while those on the southern corner back his rival, Deputy President William Ruto.
Veteran opposition leader Odinga led Kenya’s presidential race, official election results showed at th eweekend, pushing Ruto into second place.
With just over 26% of votes counted, Odinga had 54% and Ruto had 45%, according to results provided by the Kenyan election commission and displayed on a large screen at a national tallying centre in the capital, Nairobi.
East Africa’s wealthiest nation and most vibrant democracy held presidential, parliamentary and local elections on Tuesday.
Ruto and Odinga are in a tight race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has reached his two- term limit. Kenyatta fell out with Ruto after the last election and has endorsed Odinga.
Official vote tallying has been proceeding slowly, fuelling public anxiety.
Election commission chairperson Wafula Chebukati blamed party agents, who are allowed to scrutinise results forms before they are added to the final tally.
“Agents in this exercise cannot proceed … as if we are doing a forensic audit,” he told a news briefing on Friday.
“We are not moving as fast as we should. This exercise needs to be concluded as soon as possible.”
Representatives from Odinga and Ruto’s coalitions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The winning candidate must receive 50% of the national vote plus one, and at least 25% of the vote from 24 of 47 counties.
The commission has until tomorroe to declare a winner.
If no candidate wins more than 50% plus one vote, the two front runners will have a run- off.
While Kenya is East Africa’s richest and most stable nation, it also has a history of violent elections disputes. More than 1 200 people were killed after the 2007 elections and more than 100 after the 2017 elections.
The race is to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who must step down after serving the maximum two fiveyear terms.
Voter turnout was about 65% much lower than the 78% recorded in 2017, a reflection, some observers say, of the disenchantment with the political elite, particularly among young people.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC), the election watchdog, is under pressure to deliver a clean vote and release the results by tomorrow.
But with the complex process of verifying and tallying votes, social media is swamped with disinformation about the results, with rights campaigners and civil society groups accusing the candidates’ camps of sharing misleading posts.
The IEBC, in a bid to be transparent, has uploaded forms to its website showing the results from each polling station, enabling Kenyan TV channels to work out their tallies.
But Kenyan media stopped broadcasting the provisional results, raising questions over the outcome of the vote as the counting process entered its fourth day on Friday.
Chebukati has urged Kenyans not to worry about the different outcomes projected by various TV channels, saying the IEBC would release the results as soon as possible.
International observers, including from the US, the EU and the AU, have hailed the IEBC for improving its procedures compared to earlier polls.