Time running out for Kenya poll

Doubts are growing over Kenya’s ability to hold a rerun of its presidential election in just one month, as key players remain unable to agree on how to conduct a credible vote, analysts say.

Bickering on all sides and confusion over the process have only increased as the clock ticks down to the October 17 vote, called after the Supreme Court annulled the initial August election, citing irregularities.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has vowed to boycott the poll if a list of demands are not met. On Sunday, he launched a nationwide campaign “against any election” run by the current electoral commission, which he accuses of rigging the first poll.

John Githongo, a prominent anticorruption campaigner in Kenya, said the election date “does not seem feasible because we are asking people who have failed calamitously to run an election after such a short time”.

A key hurdle is that the Supreme Court has yet to deliver its full judgment detailing why it annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory. It has until September 22 to do this.

In the absence of the judgement, the electoral commission has pushed forward with plans for a new election, dismissing opposition calls to sack its top officials.

Kenyatta has insisted that the election go ahead as planned, accusing his longtime rival Odinga of seeking to block the vote as a way of forcing the president to accept a coalition government.