NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 – Deputy President William Ruto has ruled out any discussion of a repeat presidential election within 90 days as suggested by NASA leader, Raila Odinga.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ruto has maintained that dialogue between the Jubilee Party and the National Super Alliance must be within the confines of the constitution.
Ruto says the fresh election, which was held on October 26, was in conformity with the constitution, and “Kenya will move on from there.”
“There will be no election in 90 days. There will be no discussion on matters to do with the elections. We will have discussions with Mr. Odinga on other matters…not matters that have been settled by the people of Kenya,” Ruto said.
In a separate interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson, Ruto has said the government is ready to discuss with Odinga on how to forge the way forward.
“We are even ready to discuss with him a retirement package,” Ruto added.
Asked by Al Jazeera if the 43 percent voter turnout captures the will of the Kenyan people, Ruto has said that the call to boycott the election by the opposition and intimidation in some areas has denied some voters their right to participate in the electoral process.
He claims Odinga has sponsored militia to attack IEBC officials from conducting the elections in his political strong holds.
The Deputy President further downplayed the perceived low voter turnout, comparing the August 8 elections which had a 78 percent voter turnout.
“It was the intention of the opposition that no Kenyan would vote but to their dismay, 7.6 million Kenyans woke up to vote,” says Ruto.
Ruto, who is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s running mate, suggests that the 3.5 million voter turn-out is being peddled by the opposition to fit a narrative of a universal voter boycott.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has so far tallied and verified 244 form 34 B’s out of the 291 constituency results with 22 forms pending verification after repeat elections in 25 constituencies if four counties was indefinitely put off following attacks on IEBC staff.
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