Jubilant supporters of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta filled Kenya’s streets Saturday after preliminary final results appeared to give him the slimmest of election wins, as the nation’s electoral commission prepared to officially announce the final results.
Final preliminary numbers given by the commission showed Kenyatta with 50.03 per cent of the vote. He needs more than 50 per cent to win outright and avoid a runoff with Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who had 43.3 per cent. The commission said the overall turnout was 86 per cent.
Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s founding president, is indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. If he becomes president, problems with Western allies are expected.
That did not appear to be a concern for Kenyatta supporters, and may have even won him votes from Kenyans angry at what they see as outside meddling.
Despite the celebrations, there appeared to be an outside possibility that the election commission could announce revised figures that would put Kenyatta back under 50 per cent.
Franklin Bett, an Odinga camp official, told journalists waiting at the election tallying centre that the commission hadn’t yet announced results as of Saturday afternoon because Odinga’s team was challenging the results of one location.