Kenya's opposition candidate calls on President Mwai Kibaki to concede defeat
Monday, 31 December 2007
NAIROBI, (Kenya), Dec 30 (Agencies): Kenya's opposition candidate called on President Mwai Kibaki to concede defeat Sunday in the closest presidential race in the country's history, accusing him of fraud after a chaotic vote count sparked widespread violence and fears of rigging
This government has lost all legitimacy and cannot govern," Raila Odinga said Sunday, three days after the vote.
Odinga clung onto his razor-thin lead by 38,000 votes, but the electoral commission suspended announcing results Saturday night, promising to look into allegations of fraud. If Kibaki loses, he will be Kenya's first sitting president ousted at the ballot box.
Kibaki's Party of National Unity urged patience for the official results from the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
"No other organization has legal jurisdiction to announce the results,"
PNU said in a statement. "We must all wait patiently for the ECK statement."
Meanwhile, thousands of people were taking to the streets for a second day in Kenya's capital, enraged over delays in announcing the country's next president. At least three people were killed Saturday, police said.
"These are our guns," said 24-year-old Cliff Owino, holding up a handful of rocks in the Mathare slum, where young men were setting up roadblocks and building bonfires. "But a voting card is our atomic weapon."
Others were shouting "Kibaki must go!" and waving machetes in the air as buses and shops burned.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey condemned the violence.
"Regardless of the eventual winners of this election, we call on Kenyans across the political spectrum to work together to advance democracy and national development," he said.
On Saturday, both parties announced they had won the election but the electoral commission said counting was not finished. Despite pleas from both parties to announce results quickly, chairman Samuel Kivuitu said he would suspend announcing results until the morning to investigate any allegations of fraud.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, chief European Union election monitor, also voiced concerns about the counting process Sunday, saying there is "a big question mark over the tallying of results."
"Our observers have been turned away from several tallying centers without being given results," he said.
Police Commissioner Hussein Ali appealed for calm, insisting, "There cannot be democracy where people think they can get recourse through hooliganism."
"Holding an election does not mean that the law has been suspended," he said.
Hundreds of people died in election-related clashes in the months leading up to the vote, and several diplomats expressed concern that a narrow victory on either side could lead to rioting. But most observers said the vote itself appeared generally orderly, with no major disruptions reported, although they declined to issue their final reports until the commission announced a winner.
Kivuitu, the electoral commission chairman, acknowledged there had been problems, including a constituency where voter turnout added up to 115 percent and another where a candidate ran away with ballot papers.
Thursday's vote pitted Kibaki against Odinga, a flamboyant millionaire who cast himself as a champion of the poor. It was the country's most closely fought election since independence from Britain in 1963.
Kibaki is from Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, while Odinga is from the second largest group, the Luos, who are poorer and feel politically marginalized.
Odinga, a fiery 62-year-old former political prisoner, promised change and help for the poor. His main constituency is Kibera, home to at least 700,000 people who live in extreme poverty and the scene of many of Saturday's riots.
Supporters of 76-year-old Kibaki say he has turned Kenya's moribund economy into an East African powerhouse, with an average growth rate of 5 percent and a booming tourism industry.
He won by a landslide victory in 2002, ending 24 years in power by the notoriously corrupt Daniel arap Moi, who was constitutionally barred from extending his term.
But Kibaki's anti-graft campaign has largely been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty. After the opposition took most of parliamentary seats, he may find it difficult to rule if he wins.
For either candidate to win, he must get the most votes as well as garner at least 25 percent of the votes in five of Kenya's eight provinces, a move aimed at ensuring a president has some support in most of the country and its many tribes.
This government has lost all legitimacy and cannot govern," Raila Odinga said Sunday, three days after the vote.
Odinga clung onto his razor-thin lead by 38,000 votes, but the electoral commission suspended announcing results Saturday night, promising to look into allegations of fraud. If Kibaki loses, he will be Kenya's first sitting president ousted at the ballot box.
Kibaki's Party of National Unity urged patience for the official results from the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
"No other organization has legal jurisdiction to announce the results,"
PNU said in a statement. "We must all wait patiently for the ECK statement."
Meanwhile, thousands of people were taking to the streets for a second day in Kenya's capital, enraged over delays in announcing the country's next president. At least three people were killed Saturday, police said.
"These are our guns," said 24-year-old Cliff Owino, holding up a handful of rocks in the Mathare slum, where young men were setting up roadblocks and building bonfires. "But a voting card is our atomic weapon."
Others were shouting "Kibaki must go!" and waving machetes in the air as buses and shops burned.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey condemned the violence.
"Regardless of the eventual winners of this election, we call on Kenyans across the political spectrum to work together to advance democracy and national development," he said.
On Saturday, both parties announced they had won the election but the electoral commission said counting was not finished. Despite pleas from both parties to announce results quickly, chairman Samuel Kivuitu said he would suspend announcing results until the morning to investigate any allegations of fraud.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, chief European Union election monitor, also voiced concerns about the counting process Sunday, saying there is "a big question mark over the tallying of results."
"Our observers have been turned away from several tallying centers without being given results," he said.
Police Commissioner Hussein Ali appealed for calm, insisting, "There cannot be democracy where people think they can get recourse through hooliganism."
"Holding an election does not mean that the law has been suspended," he said.
Hundreds of people died in election-related clashes in the months leading up to the vote, and several diplomats expressed concern that a narrow victory on either side could lead to rioting. But most observers said the vote itself appeared generally orderly, with no major disruptions reported, although they declined to issue their final reports until the commission announced a winner.
Kivuitu, the electoral commission chairman, acknowledged there had been problems, including a constituency where voter turnout added up to 115 percent and another where a candidate ran away with ballot papers.
Thursday's vote pitted Kibaki against Odinga, a flamboyant millionaire who cast himself as a champion of the poor. It was the country's most closely fought election since independence from Britain in 1963.
Kibaki is from Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, while Odinga is from the second largest group, the Luos, who are poorer and feel politically marginalized.
Odinga, a fiery 62-year-old former political prisoner, promised change and help for the poor. His main constituency is Kibera, home to at least 700,000 people who live in extreme poverty and the scene of many of Saturday's riots.
Supporters of 76-year-old Kibaki say he has turned Kenya's moribund economy into an East African powerhouse, with an average growth rate of 5 percent and a booming tourism industry.
He won by a landslide victory in 2002, ending 24 years in power by the notoriously corrupt Daniel arap Moi, who was constitutionally barred from extending his term.
But Kibaki's anti-graft campaign has largely been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty. After the opposition took most of parliamentary seats, he may find it difficult to rule if he wins.
For either candidate to win, he must get the most votes as well as garner at least 25 percent of the votes in five of Kenya's eight provinces, a move aimed at ensuring a president has some support in most of the country and its many tribes.