Kenyan democratic governance is on the knife edge as Raila Odinga who lost last presidential election has rejected the figures and he is heading for the courts.
According to the official results, Mr. Odinga narrowly lost to Deputy President William Ruto.
Mr. Odinga accused the head of the electoral body of a “blatant disregard of the constitution”.
“We totally without reservation reject the presidential election results,” he said.
Making his remarks in front of supporters in the capital, Nairobi, he said that there was “neither a legally elected winner nor a president-elect”.
The 77-year-old long-time opposition leader was running for president for the fifth time. He has challenged the results in the previous two elections, including successfully in 2017.
This time round, the chairman of the electoral body Wafula Chebukat said he got 48.8% of the vote in last Tuesday’s election compared to Mr. Ruto’s 50.5%.
Mr. Odinga accused Mr. Chebukati of “gross impunity” saying his team will pursue all legal options. He called his declaration “a major setback” to Kenya’s democracy that could trigger a political crisis.
He said that Mr. Chebukati went against the law by announcing the result without the backing of his fellow commissioners. This is a legal point that may in the end have to be tested in court.
Minutes before Mr. Odinga spoke, four of seven electoral commissioners who refused to approve Monday’s results, held a press conference to give their reasons.
They accused Mr. Chebukati of side-lining them and of announcing results that were full of “mathematic absurdity and defied logic”.
On Monday, Mr. Ruto described the objections of the commissioners as a “side-show”, but said he would respect a legal process. He also called for unity, saying he wanted to be a president for all, and for the country to focus on the future.
Last week’s election was largely peaceful. The electoral commission was widely praised for conducting a transparent process by posting on its website results from more than 46,000 polling stations and encouraging anyone to conduct their own tally.