(GIN) – Hacking, fraud and violence marred the polls that chose the new president of Kenya but a preponderance of votes gave a clear win to the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, who sailed to victory with 54% of the voting public.
Defeat failed to dim the hopes of the unsuccessful opponent, Raila Odinga, who vowed to continue fighting what he calls widespread electoral fraud.
“We had predicted they will steal the election, and that’s what happened,” Odinga told thousands of supporters Sunday in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. “We are not done yet. We will not give up.”
Few businesses were closed on Monday as ordered by Odinga, partly to reject the poll outcome and partly in memory of those who lost their lives over the weekend. Kenya’s Commission on Human Rights says at least 24 people were killed by police gunfire, all since Election Day.
International observers, including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, defended the election as free and fair. And electoral commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati dismissed the alternative numbers offered by Odinga’s camp, which show Odinga leading by several hundred thousand votes, as “obviously and plainly falsified.”
Ultimately, there could only be one winner between the two choices, observed Yvonne Rowa Woods, PhD student at the University of Adelaide, Australia. “President Kenyatta was poised to clinch a second term … He is highly personable and seems to enjoy strong political chemistry with his supporters. He also boasts strong social media credentials.”
Odinga lost for two reasons, she continued. “For some voters it was “Raila fatigue” and accompanying disillusionment. In fact, he’s lost every shot he’s made at the presidency.”
Meanwhile, at the local level, six women made history, becoming the first women elected governors and senators in Kenya. Then there was candidate Simon Muturi, 24, who campaigned on his bicycle, and John Paul Mwirigi, 23, who campaigned on foot and defeated the ruling party’s candidate.
Finally, Sophia Abdi Noor made history by becoming the first woman from an ethnic Somali background to be elected to parliament. She explained her campaign: “I will win because people here are tired of men who only think of themselves.”
Mohammed Ali, a veteran investigative journalist, who launched a TV show that exposed crime and corruption, won in Mombasa county. Another journalist, Paul Katana, also won in in Kilifi county along Kenya’s coast. w/pix of Pres. U. Kenyatta
