Kenyatta skips meeting with electoral commission
President prefers wooing voters
Nairobi – Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta snubbed a crisis meeting called by the chairman of the election board for yesterday, saying he would instead spend the day campaigning for next week’s presidential vote re-run.
The first presidential vote in August, which Kenyatta won, was annulled because of procedural irregularities.
Election commission chairman Wafula Chebukati delivered a stark message to political leaders on Wednesday, saying it was hard to guarantee a credible vote on October 26, and demanding they meet for talks.
Speaking at a campaign rally in the western town of Saboti on Wednesday, Kenyatta said the priority was for Kenyans to go to the polls on the set date.
“We are not interested in telling the IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) what to do. We want them to prepare so Kenyans can vote on the 26th,” he said.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga is boycotting the rerun of the poll because of a lack of reform at the IEBC.
However, Odinga, whose call for mass protests on election day has sparked fears a political and constitutional crisis could spill over into violence, met Chebukati yesterday and called for serious talks on the impasse after the meeting.
“If proper consultations are done and if proper reforms are carried out and those fears that we raised are addressed ... then we will reconsider,” he told reporters outside the IEBC office.
The supreme court nullified Kenyatta’s victory in the August 8 vote and ordered a repeat election in 60 days.
The stalemate has brought huge uncertainty to Kenya, the richest economy in the region.
The mess deepened last week after Odinga pulled out of the race, citing lack of reforms at the electoral board.
He said his withdrawal should force the commission to start a fresh 90-day electoral cycle, including fresh candidate nominations.
The IEBC says the vote will go ahead.