Kenyan politician Raila Odinga has said he will use “all constitutional and legal options” to challenge the country’s election result – which saw Vice President William Ruto declared the winner.
There was scuffles and chairs were thrown at the national counting center in the capital Nairobi shortly before the announcement of the results on Monday.
Mr Ruto reportedly won nearly 50.5% of the vote – but the dispute now threatens weeks of political unrest in the East African country.
“Let no one take the law into his own hands,” Mr Odinga told his supporters in his first appearance since the statement as he called on them to remain peaceful, and called the result a “travesty”.
There have been troubles in Kenyawhich has a history of post-election violence.
Overnight, supporters of Mr Odinga battled police and burned tires in the western town of Kisumu and Nairobi’s sprawling Kibera slum, but the streets were quiet on Tuesday morning.
Veteran opposition leader and five-time presidential candidate Mr Odinga called the election result ‘null and void’ and said it showed ‘flagrant disregard for the constitution’.
Four of Kenya’s seven electoral commissioners said they could not support the result as the president’s figures stand at 100.01% of the vote, and those overvotes may have been decisive.
Speaking on behalf of the four commissioners, Vice President Juliana Cherera claimed that President Wafula Chebukati had ignored concerns over the winning tally.
Kenya’s Vice President William Ruto pictured after his apparent victory in the tight election
Mr Odinga, 77, has seven days from Monday’s statement to appeal to the Supreme Court, which then has 14 days to issue a decision. He could order a new election.
The local election observation group said on Tuesday that its respected parallel vote tally confirmed Mr Ruto’s apparent victory.
The 55-year-old has shaken up Kenyan politics by calling people in economic terms and not the usual ethnic ones.
But Mr Odinga’s team expected to win, securing the job he has coveted for a quarter of a century, especially after surprise support from incumbent leader Uhuru Kenyatta, who snubbed his own deputy.
Official final results could not be viewed on the election commission’s website on Tuesday.
