Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Presidential candidate Raila Odinga has confirmed that he will move to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairperson Wafula Chebukati to declare William Ruto the winner of the August 9, 2022, Presidential election.
Speaking after a meeting with spiritual leaders at his Karen home Saturday morning, the former Prime Minister, who has since rejected the outcome of the poll, said he will petition the matter at the country’s apex court to demonstrate to the world that he did not lose fairly.
“We want to know where the truth is in what has happened in our country because people are shocked and astounded. Many are in a state of mourning at this moment and others are celebrating and it’s their democratic right,” he said
Odinga says the IEBC has put the country in a very difficult position especially given that commissioners aren’t speaking in one voice as far as the poll outcome is concerned and wants the matter resolved by the Martha Koome-led court.
According to the ODM leader, the manner in which results were streaming before Chebukati declared Ruto as the winner indicated that it was too close to call and wondered why there was a rush to announce the outcome when the seven commissioners had divergent views on the final figures tallied.
“As athletes, we ran to the finish line, and it was a photo finish. And the referees are divided, one side is saying this candidate won and the other holds a different view,” he said
“It means the IEBC can’t tell who won. This only happens in Kenya, because those who were given the mandate to run our elections can do the things they did, it means our democracy is still young. At this moment, very few are happy to say there is a winner. Others are saying president-elect but if the commissioners have not spoken with one voice, this is shameful,” he charged
Odinga told the religious leaders that Azimio had chosen to pursue the matter through the corridors of justice because they do not want to see a recurrence of violence in the country like in the past.
In court, the Azimio leader said they will lay bare proof that Wafula Chebukati of IEBC acted against the law even as he expressed confidence that the Supreme Court judges will deliver a ruling in their favour.
“We want lasting peace. That is why we will go to the Supreme Court where we will take the evidence we have to demonstrate that what we had was a joke and not an election. We will do this to defend our democracy which many fought for,” he said
Odinga added; “Others died fighting for our democracy and it’s our responsibility to ensure that what happened does not take us back but help our country move forward,”
The former PM commended the religious leaders for taking the time to visit him and his team. He also thanked them for reaching out to key players in the political landscape over what transpired since the declaration of results.
He maintained that justice will ensure lasting peace prevails.
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