NAIROBI, KENYA: Jubilee leaders at the Coast on Saturday urged the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to declare President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of the repeat presidential poll.
The leaders said votes from the 3,635 polling stations where IEBC has postponed voting will not change the outcome of the final tally that indicates Uhuru has garnered over seven million votes.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said the IEBC should end the uncertainty and anxiety in the country by declaring Uhuru the winner.
“Kenyans need to move on and focus on social economic development,” said Balala in Mombasa yesterday.
Security challenges
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The IEBC postponed voting indefinitely in Migori, Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay counties over insecurity after a series of protests rendered polling stations in these counties inaccessible.
The four counties have a total 1,770,475 registered voters, which the Jubilee leaders said would have no impact on the final tally even if all in the region balloters voted for any other candidate.
The Constitution, however, says the presidential election should be held in each of the 290 constituencies.
Yesterday former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar dismissed claims by the National Super Alliance (NASA) that there would be a fresh election in 90 days.
“Our NASA brothers should not live in an illusion that there will be any other election in 90 days. The next election will be after five years,” said Omar.
Omar said there was no legal requirement that Uhuru must garner the same number of votes he obtained in the annulled August 8 elections to be validly elected.
“If IEBC is not able to hold an election in the four counties it should be remembered that it is because of insecurity. Even the court should take judicial notice of that fact,” said Omar.
He was supported by another unsuccessful candidate for the Mombasa governorship, Mr Suleiman Shahbal, who said NASA was citing the lower voter turnout to create the impression that Uhuru’s win was not legitimate.
According to provisional figures from the IEBC, Uhuru garnered 220,000 votes from across the Coast region, compared to the 280,000 he got in the annulled August 8 presidential election.
Balala said the poor turnout was due to threats by the NASA leaders and supporters who he claims threatened to chop off the fingers of those who voted.
Other leaders from the region also attributed the diminished turnout to these threats.
Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya said Uhuru would have garnered a nine million votes had it not been for threats, intimidation and physical attacks from NASA supporters.
Scared
“Other than at Bangladesh in Jomvu, the election went on smoothly across the Coast region. But people were scared to come out to vote because of fear of attacks,” said Mvurya.
Speaking to journalists, former Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro said voter turnout has been traditionally low in the coast region, noting that the highest level of 60 per cent was during the constitutional referendum of 2010.
“Even in the August 8 polls, voter turnout at the coast was about 55 per cent. Let the IEBC do the needful and declare President Uhuru the winner,” said Mung’aro.
Meanwhile, a voter in Mombasa, Ali Ramadhan, has moved to court under a certificate of urgency to compel NASA leaders to respect the outcome of the repeat poll.
Through lawyer Peter Omwenga, Ramadhan argued that the election was free, fair and transparent and said Raila should accept the will of millions of Kenyans who voted.
