Kenya’s Odinga says presidential election result a ‘travesty’

August 16, 20225:11 PM GMT+1Last Updated 14 min ago

• Africa

By George Obulutsa and Ayenat Mersie

4 minute read

1/11

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) One Kenya Alliance, who competed in Kenya’s presidential election, addresses the nation following the announcement of the results of the presidential election, in Nairobi, Kenya August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaRead More

• Summary

• Odinga urges supporters to remain peaceful
• Calm returns to the streets of Kibera slum and Kisumu city
• Election result disowned by majority of election officials

NAIROBI/KISUMU, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Kenyan politician Raila Odinga rejected as a “travesty” the result of an Aug. 9 presidential election he was declared to have lost to Deputy President William Ruto and warned on Tuesday of a long legal crisis facing Kenya’s democracy.

His first comments on the result came after four of the seven election commissioners said they stood by their decision a day earlier to disown figures announced by electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati.Advertisement · Scroll to continuenullReport an ad

The dramatic series of events has raised fears of violence similar to what followed disputed polls in East Africa’s richest country in 2007 when more than 1,200 people were killed and again in 2017 when more than 100 people died.

Overnight, Odinga’s supporters battled police and burned tyres in the western city of Kisumu and the capital Nairobi’s huge Kibera slum, but calm had returned to the streets by Tuesday morning.