NAIROBI, August 12 – The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will raise its concerns over alleged poll discrepancies in Kamukunji to the Cabinet, Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o said on Tuesday.
At a press conference to protest Monday’s re-tallying process, Nyong’o said that court orders were not properly followed as ‘no re-tallying had been done’.
He said it was important that winners win fairly and losers lose fairly.
Simon Mbugua of the Party of National Unity was declared the winner of the Kamukunji poll on Monday by the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s (ECK) Returning Officer Priscilla Wamiru, amid acrimony that no vote recount was done ‘as was expected’.
Protests followed, especially from ODM leaders, led by candidate Yusuf Ibrahim Ali, who complained that the process wasn’t fairly done.
“The returning officer just came and started announcing the winners. Tallying in my understanding is not an announcement,” he had stated.
The High Court had last month ordered the ECK to complete the tallying of votes cast during the Kamukunji Parliamentary poll in December, and to then declare the results.
The Court ruled that the ECK did not have sufficient reason to annul the poll after the tallying process was disrupted by violence. They said only 14 results had not been counted at that time and that would not significantly change the poll outcome.
But Nyong’o insisted on Tuesday that the case would continue until the Returning Officer follows the court order and re-tallies all the votes.
“I will raise this issue with the highest order, which also includes the Cabinet. I will write letters to the relevant authorities to express the dissatisfaction,” he said.
The Medical Services Minister also urged the government to establish a mechanism that would solve political conflicts within the coalition, citing the Kamukunji case as one of them.
He further said that it would be necessary to solve the political differences in a system that would ensure all sides are satisfied.
Mbugua was pronounced winner with 22,614 votes, beating his closet opponent, Ali, who managed 16,604.
ODM ELECTIONS
Meanwhile, Nyong’o said ODM will meet next week to plan for grassroots elections and also receive a report from a committee that was working to ensure the party complies with the Political Parties Act.
He said the meeting will roll out a plan on the party structure in relation to the Act.
The Secretary General intimated that ODM was working to strengthen and recruit more members to the party.
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