Uhuru leads in provisional results

By Felix Olick

Jubilee flag-bearer Uhuru Kenyatta remained ahead of his rivals in the race to State House by about 600,000 votes as counting in the presidential poll neared the halfway mark.

Uhuru held onto his lead over his main rival — CORD’s Raila Odinga — through a long day of counting that saw the gap between the two close slightly. Meanwhile, a row erupted over what percentages electoral officials should use in reporting the incoming results.

As at 1am today, 5.6 million votes had been counted: Uhuru had 2,789,900 valid votes (53.4 per cent), while Raila held onto 2,198,714 (42 per cent). More than 330,000 of the ballots counted were rejected as spoilt votes. Results from about 18,000 polling stations are pending.

A standoff erupted over the exclusion of rejected and disputed votes in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s calculations of the percentages held by the candidates. IEBC has been displaying the percentage for valid votes only. However, CORD pointed out the Constitution sets the threshold for victory at 50 per cent plus one vote for “all votes cast”.

IEBC Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan last evening announced that the percentages would now be worked out using total votes cast (including rejected and disputed votes). This immediately sparked a protest from the Jubilee alliance, whose officials say he was misinterpreting the law.

Hassan also fielded sharp questions about delays in the vote counting, tallying and reporting process. He dispelled rumours the apparently slow pace of releasing results was caused by a collapse of IEBC’s computer servers or lack of data backup.

“That is not true,” he said at news conference last evening. “The truth is that the results from polling stations delayed.” This, he added, was due to the large numbers of voters, the greater number of ballot papers and extensions to voting time to accommodate those in line at 5pm.

In 2007, electoral officials had to count only about 30 million ballot papers; this year, they are set to count twice as many papers, which will lead to delays. Hassan pointed out that election laws provide for results within seven days to allow for such delays and added that IEBC’s attempt to speed up reporting of the tallies with an electronic system had had a few challenges. IEBC officials and experts from political parties, he said, had “shared in the technical challenges”. He assured voters the commission would today begin announcing official results from 290 constituencies once Returning Officers submit hard copies of the forms required.

“We appeal to politicians, especially the presidential candidates, to maintain calm and allow the commission to announce the results,” he added.

On the national contest, Raila’s running mate Kalonzo Musyoka played down Uhuru’s lead, insisting most votes from their political strongholds had not been counted and reported.

“We noted with worry that (some of) our competitors have not resisted the temptation to engage in premature celebrations,” Kalonzo said. “Only one-third of all provisional results have been announced. Two-thirds of all polling stations are yet to report their results.”

Amani’s Musalia Mudavadi was in third position with 143,000 votes, while the other candidates, including Kenya National Congress’s Peter Kenneth who conceded defeat, followed with less than 30,000 each. Uhuru has maintained his lead since results began trickling in on Monday evening. The close contest kept Kenyans guessing if there would be a clear winner in the first round or whether the presidential election would be pushed to a runoff.

But as Uhuru and Raila watched the race unfold, many of their lieutenants and ardent defenders fell, including Cabinet ministers Sally Kosgei, Henry Kosgey, Soita Shitanda, Amos Kimunya, Prof Sam Ongeri, Ali Mwakwere and Charity Ngilu. Also defeated were Jubilee pointman in the Coast, Najib Balala and former Cheragany MP Joshua Kuttuny.

Other big names who lost their races include former Naivasha MP John Mututho, Education Minister Margret Kamar and Education Assistant minister Ayiecho Olweny.

Businesswoman Mary Wambui secured the Othaya parliamentary seat after beating two male rivals. Wambui garnered 16, 285 votes against her closest challenger Peter King’ara of Grand National Union who scored 14,218. President Kibaki’s choice of successor, Mugambi Gichuki, who was running on a Saba Saba Asili ticket, came a distant third at 10,972.

Former Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara lost to Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi in the race for the Meru Senate seat and hinted at quitting elective politics.

“I have come to the decision that retirement from active politics is the best option,” said Imanyara, who was running on a CORD/ODM ticket. “I shall make a further statement later after consultation with the wider family, supporters and well-wishers.”
There was anxiety across the country over the challenges IEBC faces and the concerns raised by various contestants. The electoral team urged Kenyans to be patient.

“We wish to appeal to the public and in particular, the political parties, the media and all IEBCstakeholders to understand that the results being relayed here are only provisional,” Hassan emphasised at the Bomas of Kenya national tallying centre last night.

Election observers and other stakeholders expressed concern at the large number of spoilt votes. A joint team from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (Igad) said the high number of spoilt votes was a sign of inadequate civic education.

“The education was simply inadequate. May be because the commission did not have enough time,” said Abdulrahman Kinana, the EAC mission leader.

From the interim results released so far, Uhuru seems to have trounced Raila in Central Kenya. It was also clear that Jubilee presidential running mate William Ruto had delivered the Rift Valley vote, rekindling memories of the last polls when they voted overwhelming for Raila at his behest. In Baringo County, for example, Uhuru garnered about 67 per cent of the total votes, in the face of opposition from former President Moi who, together with his son Gideon, had thrown their weight behind Mudavadi.

Raila, on the other hand, appears to have triumphed in Nyanza, Coast, Western and Lower Eastern. The PM appeared to take control of most Western regions hitherto perceived to be Mudavadi’s. He was also leading with a clear margin in Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Mombasa, Busia, Homa Bay, Kilifi and Taveta.