Raila OdingaPublication Date: 12/31/2007-
ODM leader Raila Odinga Sunday declared that Kenyans had elected him the President of Kenya just moments before the Electoral Commission released the final results..
However, the results announced by the commission’s chairman showed that President Kibaki had emerged the winner.
Mr Odinga had earlier asked the President to concede defeat.
He told an international news conference at ODM’s Pentagon offices: “The people know that they voted to reject the incumbent and put in place a President and a Government they have faith in. That is why they have elected me President.”
However, he appealed for national calm, telling ODM supporters not to cause any chaos or destroy property.
He demanded that all presidential ballots be brought to Nairobi for a public recount under the full glare of the media and observers.
Deeply disturbed
Mr Odinga added: “Kenyans are deeply disturbed and angered by the attempt of this Government to steal this election through a process that was fraudulent at every step of the way.”
He said he was not going to accept a Kibaki win when the results from all parts of Kenya did not give him the mandate.
“I cannot and would not accept a Kibaki win; the results are there, if I had lost I would have accepted, this is fait accompli (over),” Mr Odinga said.
However, he said he was not declaring himself the President.
“I am not trying to do an Abiola in Kenya... I hope some sanity will prevail,” he added amidst a rare laughter in the tense media conference.
He was referring to an incident in which former Nigerian President Moshood Abiola declared himself President.
And he warned: “If they go ahead and declare Kibaki the winner, the consequences are too grave to contemplate ... look at Ivory Coast one of the most successful countries in West Africa ... we want to remain peaceful, prosperous and democratic.”
The Langata MP-elect challenged President Kibaki to be a statesman “the way he has always claimed” by conceding defeat, saying his Government had lost legitimacy and could not govern.
He talked of massive rigging in some regions, saying that even with the rigged results, ODM tallies from all 210 stations showed that he was ahead of President Kibaki by about 200,000 votes.
However, he said, the real result would have him leading by over 500,000 votes.
He said some ECK officials who were dissatisfied with the election had provided them with information that figures in some of President Kibaki’s strongholds were being inflated so that he could emerge the winner.
Mr Odinga argued that if the genuine results in the remaining 19 constituencies were computed President Kibaki would get 268,530 while he got 318,491, leaving him a winner with about 200,000 votes.
“Despite this deeply flawed process, the result of the presidential vote was still in our favour,” Mr Odinga added.
He said the results were being altered at the ECK offices at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
Tight race
Mr Odinga wondered how President Kibaki was going to rule on basis of results from two regions.
The candidate, locked in a tight race with the incumbent, spoke as the nation awaited the outcome of an overnight audit of presidential votes from all the 210 constituencies by the Electoral Commission.
Mr Odinga said the commissioners were under pressure to declare rigged results, but he appealed to them to consult their conscience and not to let Kenyans down.
“It is not true that Mr Kivuitu has no option. He can resign if his conscience tells him he is being forced to declare wrong results,” he said.
Mr Odinga said Kenya was bigger than any single individual and asked for calm and patience nationwide as the electoral process moved on.
He said President Kibaki’s Government had suffered serious defeat in the polls, losing 20 ministers and no longer had the legitimacy to govern.
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