We exposed tyranny of numbers in Jubilee to be fraud, says Raila Odinga

NASA leader Raila Odinga (Photo: Courtesy)

The National Super Alliance (NASA) has termed the October 26 repeat presidential election a meaningless exercise that should be forgotten.

Addressing the country (Tuesday) after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared Uhuru Kenyatta winner on Monday, NASA leader Raila Odinga said it was time for his movement to begin the essential task of making elections count and democracy work in Kenya.

“We will be the people who will end electoral fraud not only in Kenya but in all of Africa and be the team that will uproot the evil culture of sham elections with pre-determined outcomes,” declared Raila.

Raila lauded his staunch supporters for boycotting the repeat poll indicating that President-elect Uhuru is a product of fraud and there is nothing like tyranny of numbers in Jubilee.

“We exposed the so-called tyranny of numbers in jubilee to be a fraud, the 8-million plus votes Uhuru claimed to have secured in August to be fiction and vote-fixing and manipulation of figures by the IEBC to be real,” said Raila.

The former Prime Minister also pointed out that since the Supreme Court annulled the August 8 presidential election, the country became deeply divided on the question of holding free, fair and credible elections.

“No society that calls itself a democracy should be divided on the need for free, fair and credible elections,” stressed Raila.

In his acceptance speech, Uhuru celebrated the resilience of Kenyans, democracy, and institutions.

He said the Supreme Court of Kenya did not question the numbers he garnered in the August 8 Election but the process of declaring them, adding that by getting 7.5 million votes, his supporters had re-validated his mandate.

On the controversial electoral laws, Uhuru said he did not sign the Bill because he was advised it would be unfair to change the rules in the middle of the game. 

"The road to October 26 was not easy. Parliament took the legislative critic by the Supreme Court very seriously,” he said.

He said Raila went to court and was granted his wish, but he chose to ignore the rest of the ruling.

"You cannot choose your opportunity to exercise a right and then abscond from the responsibilities of your choice," Uhuru noted. 

Ekuru Aukot said Kenya needs urgent healing beyond the 2017 election.

"We have been consistent in our quest for justice and rule of law. We believe that we have been able to shape how politics is done in Kenya, albeit in our own small way," he said in a statement to newsrooms.

On the just concluded repeat presidential poll, Aukot said; "we fought to be included in this repeat election. I want to thank NASA for supporting us. Our decision to participate was based on the fact that the Thirdway Alliance has always advocated that the Constitution of Kenya must be safeguarded and followed at all times." 

He said they had misgivings on IEBC's preparedness but they decided to participate in the fresh elections as it was the only way to avoid anarchy in the country. "We disagree with any proposals that the elections were to be boycotted. To abandon the repeat election would have caused a constitutional crisis... We strongly believe that the supreme law of the land, and not the wishes of a tiny minority, must guide our elections now and in future." 

In the repeat election, 25 constituencies in Nyanza did not participate in the poll. On Monday, IEBC vice chairperson Consolata Nkatha said areas that did not participate in the election would not affect the final result. 

Out of 266 constituencies that submitted results, Uhuru got 7,483,895 votes. This was only 719,395 votes less of the 8,203,290 votes he got on August 8.