Thousands of Kenyans have taken to the streets to celebrate the declaration of Deputy President William Ruto as Kenya’s president-elect despite scenes of drama at the IEBC headquarters in the BOMAS.
UDA’s Ruto polled 7,176,141 votes representing 50.5 percent against his closest rival Azimio’s Raila Odinga who garnered 6,942,930 votes representing 48.85 percent.
The official announcement was made by the IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati at about 6:00pm on Monday.
The announcement came shortly after scuffles ensued at the electoral commission headquarters, characterised by violent scenes. Senator elects attached to Azimio alleged vote-rigging and started a fight, throwing chairs and the podium just moments before the EC boss Chebukati moved to announce the results.
It took the deployment of military officers to rescue the situation and evacuate the EC boss alongside other officials who feared the violence.
Prior to the announcement by Chebukati, four of the seven commissioners of the electoral commission refused to endorse the result, saying it was “opaque”.
“We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced because of the opaque nature of this last phase of the general election,” said Juliana Cherera, the vice-chairperson of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“We are going to give a comprehensive statement… and again we urge Kenyans to keep calm. There is an open door that people can go to court and the rule of law will prevail,” she said.
