Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is behaving like the proverbial Oliver Twist. He asked the country’s Supreme Court to annul last August’s presidential poll in which he was officially declared the loser. The court did so and asked the electoral commission to fix fresh election within 60 days. Last week, the commission announced that the re-run will hold on October 17. And everybody felt satisfied. Well, not everybody.
Raila Odinga is not exactly satisfied. He insists that he will not accept the date for the re-run of presidential elections, demanding reforms to the electoral commission and other “legal and constitutional guarantees.” It appears as if Mr. Odinga wants to be both the accuser and arbiter in his own case at the same time.
The East African nation faces an October 17 vote after the Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election held last month, saying the electoral commission had committed irregularities. The court called for a new vote within 60 days.The electoral commission did not consult with the opposition coalition on how the elections will be carried out, especially directing that only two candidates – the incumbent leader, Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga – would contest on that day. Mr. Odingahas objected to the new vote being limited to two candidates.
The opposition leader wants some of the commission’s officials to be prosecuted, arguing that without changes the new vote will be no different from the one last month.“We will not do a mistake twice and expect to get a different result,” he said.
Kenyatta had been named the winner of last month’s election with 54 percent of the vote, nearly 1.4 million votes ahead of Odinga.Odinga then petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming that election results were manipulated in Kenyatta’s favor.
He said he continues to seek access to the electoral commission’s computer servers as ordered by the court.The opposition leader has called for the removal of the electoral commission’s six top officials.
The incumbent leader, Uhuru Kenyatta accused Odinga of “spewing from day one ethnic rhetoric” and having no vision for the country, whose politics and elections have been dogged by ethnic-based allegiances and violence.The president has said he disagrees with the court’s ruling nullifying the election but respects it, but he also has called its judges “crooks” and vowed to “fix” the judiciary.
Many observers are worried about the turn of events in Kenya. The country is well known for violence after presidential contests. They warn that no effort should be spared to make the contestants and their supporters toe the path of moderation and peace this time around.
