Kenyatta Named Winner of Kenya's Presidential Election
Kenya's election commission has officially declared Uhuru Kenyatta the outright winner of the country's first presidential election since 2007.
The chairman of the independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Issack Hassan, said Saturday that Kenyatta received 50.07 percent of the vote - just enough to avoid a runoff.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga finished in second place in last Monday's election, with just over 43 percent of the vote. He highlighted several voting irregularities Saturday and said he has no plans to concede the election.
"Let the Supreme Court determine whether the result announced by the IEBC is a lawful one. We are confident that the court will restore the faith of Kenyans in the democratic rule of law," he said.
On Thursday, Odinga's running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka, said some results had been "doctored." Election commission chairman Hassan denied the allegation.
Monday's vote was Kenya's first nationwide basllot since 2007, the election that led to weeks of violence. more than 1,100 deaths. The turmoil six years ago also displaced 600,000 people.
Odinga called for peace during his speech Saturday, asking all Kenyans to avoid violence that could "destroy the nation."
Separately, the International Criminal Court said it has postponed a trial for Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, from April 10 to May 28. He and Kenyatta both have been charged with helping to orchestrate the post-election violence in 2007 and 2008. On Thursday the ICC postponed Kenyatta's trial from April until July.
Despite a slow vote count said to have been caused by the failure of an electronic reporting system, international observers say Kenya's election was conducted in a transparent and credible manner.
Source: Voice of America
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