Senior Kenyan election officials disown the results of presidential election

The planned announcement of the Kenyan presidential election results descended into chaotic scenes on Monday after the deputy chairperson of the election commission and three other commissioners disowned the presidential election results.

“We are not able to take ownership of the results that will be announced,” Juliana Cherera, the deputy chairperson of the electoral commission told a media briefing at a different venue from where the announcement was to be made.

Diplomats and international elections were whisked out of the tallying hall where the chairman of the electoral commission was preparing to announce the presidential results.

A short while later it was announced that Deputy President William Ruto has won Kenya’s presidential vote, the election commission said, declaring him the new leader of the region’s richest and most stable nation.

Kenya has a history of post-poll violence and slow progress by the electoral commission in tallying Tuesday’s vote has fed fears the election will be disputed, leading to bloody scenes like those that followed presidential polls in 2007 and 2017.