President Ruto of Kenya has made claims of a plan to kidnap and murder the head of Kenya’s electoral commission before the declaration of last year’s presidential election results.
President Ruto, who received 50.5% of the vote, was declared the winner of the presidential election amid dramatic scenes at the vote-counting centre. Four of the seven members 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 had said.
Diplomats and international elections were whisked out of the tallying hall before Chebukati spoke as scuffles broke out. Odinga’s party agent alleged that there were “irregularities” and “mismanagement” in the election.
Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the electoral commission, stated that he had fulfilled his duties despite receiving threats.
According to local media sources, on Tuesday the president asserted that the conspiracy to abduct Mr. Chebukati was sanctioned by the “highest office”.
“We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Mr Chebukati and murder him so that he commission would be paralysed, or a compliant commissioner take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty. It was a hard, cold and lonely time, the threats were dire, the promised rewards lavish and the pressure relentless,” President Ruto stated during a meeting with commissions and independent offices at State House in Nairobi.
Raila Odinga’s ODM party, the president’s election adversary, sneered at the remarks, calling them a well-choreographed chorus.