UN Secretary General Guterres asks Kenyan leaders disputing election results to seek redress from relevant institutions

UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the Security Council open debate on ‘Enhancing African capacities in the areas of peace and security’ on 19 July 2017.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has congratulated Kenyans for the peaceful participation in the General Election on August 8.

Guterres said that leaders disputing the re-election of the President should seek redress from relevant institutions that are constitutionally mandated to handle election disputes. He also stressed the importance of dialogue to defuse tensions.

“The Secretary-General takes note of the results of the presidential election in Kenya, and of the announcement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta as President-elect. He calls on those political leaders disputing the elections results to address election-related disputes through the relevant constitutionally mandated institutions,” he said.

 The Secretary-General called on political leaders to send clear messages to their supporters urging them to refrain from violence. 

According to Guterres, the UN in close collaboration with the African Union (AU) and other multilateral and bilateral partners, is fully engaged with Kenya’s political leadership and relevant stakeholders to facilitate the successful conclusion of the electoral process.

Declaring the presidential results, the chairman of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati, said that Uhuru had garnered 8,203,290 votes, representing 54.27 per cent of the votes cast, while the Opposition leader Raila Odinga came in second with 6,762,224 votes, representing 44.74 per cent of the votes cast.

In total, 15,073,662 people cast their votes, representing 78.91 per cent of the registered voters, an increase from the 2013 polls.

The President-elect also got more than 25 per cent of the votes cast in 35 counties, compared to Raila who managed to get over 25 per cent in 29 counties.