Kenyan candidate’s party alleges polls rigged

Running mate of PM and presidential candidate Raila Odinga says vote counting should be halted, raising tensions.

The party of one of Kenya’s leading presidential candidates has alleged vote-rigging and demanded that the count be halted, bringing further complications to the country’s elections.

The accusations by Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s running mate on Thursday came a day after rival Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta protested against the inclusion of spoiled ballots in the vote count, a process that could increase the chances of a second round runoff. 

“We have evidence that the results we have received have been doctored,” said Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also vice president, adding that in some cases “total votes cast exceeds the actual number of registered voters”. 

But Musyoka urged calm stating that his accusations were “not a call to mass action” and that the party was “committed to the principle of rule of law”. 

During the 2007 elections, disputed results triggered weeks of deadly ethnically motivated violence which left 1,200 people dead. 

“Because of these concerns, we as a coalition take the position that the national vote tallying process lacks integrity and has to be stopped,” Musyoka said, demanding that “primary documents” from polling stations be used.

Kenyatta’s party has also raised major concerns over the electoral process. A party official had said that the inclusion of spoiled ballots in the count was motivated by a “sinister and suspect” logic. 

Kenyatta, who faces a trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity over the 2007-08 violence, held a clear lead as counting continued on Thursday, with almost half of estimated ballots cast so far tallied.

His running mate, William Ruto, also faces ICC charges for his role in the aftermath of the 2007 elections. 

Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said that Isaac Hassan, the chairman of the electoral commission, told Al Jazeera that the allegations by the coalition court are “completely untrue and the final tallying will continue”. 

“Now, the only way the coalition can stop tallying the final results from coming out is if they take this to the supreme court, which will be a long process,” said Moshiri. 

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies