Raila Odinga says legal team will prove his win

Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua. [File, Standard]

Azimio la Umoja coalition's presidential candidate Raila Odinga has urged his supporters to be patient, saying the coalition has evidence showing they were rigged out in the 2022 General Election.

Odinga addressed the nation at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), moments after filing a petition seeking to challenge Willam Ruto's win.

In his address, Raila said that electoral officers at the national tallying centre who allegedly took part in the vote rigging process had volunteered to testify against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

"We have enough evidence to prove to the world that we won this election. It is now clear after investigating this last few days and what we found out will write history," Odinga said.

"Some of the people who participated in the forgery came up to bear witness and gave evidence. The thieves were in Bomas changing incoming results from regions to the system. We cannot be proud of our elections," he added.

Raila has also said that the spat between the IEBC Commissioners was a clear indicator that things were not right.

"If the chair differed with his commissioners, then it means bad things happened. It is a shame to our democracy. To our supporters, patience pays and the truth shall set us free," Odinga told his supporters.

A day later, Odinga, the runner-up in the just-concluded presidential election rejected the results.

He said the announcement of the winner was illegal citing a split in the electoral commission and the chairman's failure to explain how he came up with the final numbers.

He spoke while addressing elected governors, members of parliament and politicians allied with his Azimio Coalition.

"The figures announced by Chebukati are null and void and must be couched by a court of law," Odinga said. "In our view, there is neither a legally, validly declared winner nor a president-elect. Mr Chebukati's announcement purporting to announce a winner is a nullity."

Odinga said the head of the electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati, did not follow the constitution and the electoral law when declaring the winner.

Chebukati on Monday declared William Ruto as Kenya's president-elect, saying Ruto won 7.1 million votes, while Odinga got 6.9 million.

The chair's decision to announce the winner over their objections angered the majority of the commissioners, including his deputy.

The four commissioners distanced themselves from the results read last Monday, citing opaqueness in the final process.