In what was dubbed as Kenya’s most hotly contested election, President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner this Friday by the country’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The election marked record voter turnout, with up to 15.2 million out of the 19.6 million registered voters casting their ballot.
The election process has largely been hailed as fair and successful by multiple observer missions, including those by the East African Community, The Commonwealth and the U.S.’s Carter centre led by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, with Thabo Mbeki leading the African Union mission.
But the election was not without mishaps, as noted by Delano Kiilu, a security expert with the Protective & Safety Association of Kenya. “…What we did see was of course one or two hiccups, glitches and hitches within the systems such as in the vote tallying,and we also saw one or two anomalies raised by the opposition figures” …which caused a delay in the announcement of the final results”.
Indeed the results have been rejected by Kenya’s opposition who’s candidate Raila Odinga garnered 44.94% against Kenyatta’s 54.17%. Presently Kenya is pensively awaiting Odinga’s address on his next move even as normal business resumes in cities and towns across the country.
Multi-party democracy was instituted in Kenya in 1991 and Professor Macharia Munene, an analyst on African affairs hails Kenya’s democracy as having come of age. “This election showed it very clearly…it was exemplary in the procedure…” he adds.
