Kenya election officials accused of trying to subvert will of the people

The head of Kenya’s electoral body – the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) – has accused the four commissioners who have not endorsed the presidential election result of trying to subvert the constitution.

Wafula Chebukati has, in a statement, described how he saw events behind the scenes on Monday when the planned announcement of the results was delayed by several hours.

He said that the four commissioners, who later went on to distance themselves from the outcome, “demanded that the chairperson moderates the results for [the] purpose of forcing an election re-run contrary to their oath of office.

“This is tantamount to subverting the Constitution and the sovereign will of the people of Kenya.”

Mr Chebukati defended his action of going on to announce that William Ruto had won, despite objections, saying that he was acting within the law.

The four commissioners said that they had questions over the accuracy of the tally and were not given a chance to verify the results.

The maths they used to justify their reasons has been brought into question.

Mr Ruto’s main rival – Raila Odinga – has refused to accept the result and has indicated that he will mount a legal challenge. One argument is that Mr Chebukati did not have the right to make the announcement.

This may be one issue that the judges of the Supreme Court will have to rule on. BBC News