Winner expects challenge
Supporters of Odinga largely stayed away from Kenyan polls
KENYA’S President Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday that he expected the opposition to challenge his victory in the October 26 repeat presidential election in court and that any dialogue must wait until that process is done.
“My victory today is just part of a process that is likely to once again be subjected to a constitutional test through our courts… I will submit to this constitutional path regardless of the outcome,” Kenyatta said in his acceptance speech.
“Those who are going to ask me: ‘Are you going to engage in dialogue?’ ... Let them (the opposition) first and foremost exhaust all their constitutional options.”
The election results came the same day Amnesty International accused Kenyan police of excessive brutality and intimidation against opposition protesters.
Little over a third of Kenyans took part in Thursday’s polls and opposition supporters of Raila Odinga largely boycotted the event.
On Sunday night Consolata Nkatha, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission vice-chairperson, said the results from six of the remaining seven constituencies from Thursday had been received. “We have received results from six constituencies now and we will be in a position to announce the final results tomorrow morning.”
The counties where the commission postponed the repeat election are Kisumu, Migori, Siaya and Homa Bay.
The IEBC initially ruled that the poll for those areas would take place last Saturday but subsequently decided to cancel the rerun due to the unrest and uncertainty gripping the east African country.
Furthermore, Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday ruled out the possibility of the country holding fresh elections in 90 days as demanded by opposition leader Odinga. “Our position on the matter is that Kenya is a constitutional democracy,” he told Al Jazeera during an interview. “We respect the rule of law. “Every situation has been provided for under the constitution, and Odinga’s call for fresh elections within 90 days is not constitutional.”
Meanwhile, Amnesty International yesterday accused Kenya’s police of using unlawful force against protesters and bystanders in the western city of Kisumu, which is an opposition stronghold.
Amnesty said the excessive force appeared to be a deliberate campaign to punish inhabitants for continuing to protest amid chaotic elections over the past week.
In Nairobi, instances of police brutality were interspersed with acts of violence and intimidation by supporters of the two main political figures in the country.
“In Kisumu, the evidence we gathered paints a grim picture of police shooting, aggressively assaulting, and even breaking into the homes of people suspected to be protesters,” said the rights group, “but also those who happen to be in the vicinity of protests.”
People have been seriously injured or shot while buying food in the market, walking home from school or resting in their homes,” said Justus Nyang’aya, head of Amnesty International Kenya.
“What we are witnessing appears to be punitive policing; a blatant attempt to intimidate and punish residents in the opposition stronghold.”
Many of those shot appear to have been hit because police fired live rounds indiscriminately.
Some were clearly bystanders and not protesters.
“The failure of the police to disclose clear information on fatal shootings is deeply concerning.
“All shooting incidents should be immediately investigated by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority,” said Nyang’aya. – ANA