Tuesday 16 August 2022 02:55 AM Kenyan election descends into brawl with officials disowning results minutes ... trends now
A brawl broke out between officials at Kenya's election results centre in Nairobi amid accusations of vote rigging and a delayed announcement, with William Ruto controversially declared the winner.
Supporters of rival presidential candidate Raila Odinga were up in arms as four out of seven election commissioners said they could not recognise the results nor take part in the announcement.
The scuffles, which saw chairs flying and punches thrown, came as it appeared that a backer of Raila Odinga tried to block the head of the election commission from making an address.
While Mr Ruto arrived at the national tallying centre at 1pm local time for the expected announcement, Mr Odinga did not show up.
His party's chief election agent announced he would not ask Mr Odinga to go to the tallying as his team had not been able to verify some of the results.
'We cannot take ownership of the result that will be announced,' Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) vice chair Juliana Cherera told reporters, saying the process was 'opaque'.
A brawl broke out between officials at Kenya's results centre in Nairobi amid accusations of vote rigging and a delayed announcement
The scuffles, which saw chairs thrown and punches thrown, came as it appeared that a backer of Raila Odinga tried to block the head of the election commission from making an address
The announcement of the long-awaited outcome of Kenya's presidential vote was thrown into chaos after four out of seven election commissioners said they could not recognise the results
Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto reacts after being declared the winner of Kenya's presidential election
'We are going to give a comprehensive statement... and again we urge Kenyans to keep calm. There is an open door that people can go to court and the rule of law will prevail,' she said.
Mr Odinga's party agent had alleged there were 'irregularities' and 'mismanagement' in the election.
William Ruto, 55, served as Kenya's
