NAIROBI-Kenya's losing presidential candidate, Mr. Raila Odinga said on today Tuesday his coalition totally rejects the election results that saw Deputy President William Ruto win the presidential vote, and vowed to pursue legal means to challenge the decision.
The veteran opposition leader, who lost his fifth bid for the presidency, urged his supporters to maintain peace and not take the law on their own hands, at a media briefing in the capital.Earlier Monday, Ruto's rival Odinga's coalition also rejected the election results before they had even been announced by Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Odinga's chief agent, Saitabao Kanchory told the press outside the national election center in Nairobi that they had not yet been able to cross check the final result with their own tally.
"Once we see them, we want to verify them, when we verify them, we will be able to know and to tell the Kenyan people, because a result that is not verifiable is not a result.'' Kanchory told reporters awaiting the results announcement.
The national tallying center briefly descended into chaos shortly after Odinga's coalition rejected the results, with fighting breaking out and chairs being thrown in the building.
Therefore, Mr.William Ruto thanked the people of Kenya for voting him as the next leader of the country in his first speech after being announced the winner of the election.
"In this election, there are no losers. The people of Kenya have won because we have raised the political bar. The people of Kenya are the biggest winners," he said
He also thanked his competitor and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, and said: "We dwelled on issues and tried to sell an agenda to the people of Kenya during the campaign."
"It was God that brought us here ... my team and I will make sure that the sacrifices made by many Kenyans is not in vain ...I will run a transparent, open, democratic government and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over my administration," he added.