Kenya’s President Wants Elections This Week
President Uhuru Kenyatta says that the re-run of the presidential election must go ahead as planned on Thursday.
Kenyatta’s statement comes amidst international doubts and scrutiny regarding the upcoming election. Chairman, Wafula Chebukati, said last week that the IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) cannot guarantee a fair and credible election.
Another electoral official, Roselyn Akombe, resigned recently because, she said, valid elections are not possible. She has since fled to the United States, fearing for her safety.
An electoral official in charge of preventing electronic voter fraud was murdered shortly before Kenya’s August election. His murder remains unsolved.
Kenyatta met with Chebukati yesterday, reportedly, to convince him to hold the election. After the meeting, Kenyatta said, “We have made funds available for the IEBC to do its job. Now they really should deliver.”
Meanwhile, Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga says that he will not recognise a win by Kenyatta, should the incumbent president be re-elected on Thursday. Odinga announced earlier this month that he will be boycotting the election to protest a lack of electoral reforms.
“As far as we are concerned, this is not an election,” Odinga said on Sunday.
