Kenya’s electoral commission chairman has declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the close presidential election over five-time contender Raila Odinga, a triumph for the man who shook up politics by appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not traditional ethnic ones.
But chaos broke out shortly before the declaration when the electoral commission’s vice chairwoman and three other commissioners told journalists they could not support the “opaque nature” of the final phase.
“We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced,” Juliana Cherera said. At the declaration venue, police moved in to impose calm amid shouting and shoving.
The sudden split in the commission came minutes after Mr Odinga’s chief agent said they could not verify the results and made allegations of “electoral offences”, without giving details or evidence. Mr Odinga did not come to the venue for the declaration.
Diplomats were whisked out of the counting hall where the chairman of the electoral commission was preparing to announce the results.
Kenya has a history of post-poll violence and slow progress by the electoral commission in tallying last Tuesday's vote has fed fears the election will be disputed, leading to bloody scenes like those that followed presidential polls in 2007 and 2017.
But Mr Ruto struck a conciliatory tone in his acceptance speech.
"Those people that worked against us, I want to tell them that they should not fear, our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck to move forward," he told supporters, Kenyan paper The Star reported.
AFP and Reuters contributed to this report
