President Uhuru Kenyatta has been declared the winner of the repeat presidential poll. He scooped 7,483,895 votes, which correspond to 98.62% of the total votes cast. The total votes cast were 7,616,217, while rejected votes were 37,713. NASA leader Raila Odinga, who withdrew his candidature, got 73,228 votes which correspond to 0.96% of the votes, while Ekuru Aukot came third with 21,333 votes which translate to 0.28%. The national turnout for the repeat poll was 38.84%
While addressing listeners at the Bomas of Kenya after being declared the winner by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the country’s resilience has been tested through the political situation that has gripped the nation since the August polls. “I celebrate the resilience of the nation, the democracy of our people and the resilience of our institutions,” he said, “Any country experiencing the turns and twists of our recent electoral process would’ve burst asunder but Kenya’s resilience will not die, and we won’t give in to obvious provocations.”
He thanked his supporters who voted for him, saying the process of reimagining the nation can now begin. However, he acknowledged the fact that his win may still be subjected to constitutional processes including court petitions, saying he will once again submit to the constitutional path no matter the outcome, “Some have said that I should take part in dialogues, but first and foremost, the competitors should exhaust all the laid out processes and go to court. No one shall deny them their constitutional rights.” He reiterated that the narrative that the voter turnout was low is not true, saying that on August, 15 million Kenyans came out to vote, and 8.4 million voted for him, and yet, on October 26th 90% of the same voters came out to support him.
The President further urged Kenyans to maintain peace and unity, “Your neighbour will remain your neighbour despite political outcomes, he or she will still be your brother or sister. Let each and every one of us be our brother’s keeper or sister’s keeper and let’s maintain peace,” he said.
