Press Release
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The Egyptian Alliance for Human Rights and Development followed the elections in Kenya, which took place yesterday, Tuesday, August 9, in which voters in Kenya choose a new president, succeeding the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is not entitled under the constitution to run for a third term, in addition to holding parliamentary and local elections alongside Presidential election.
These elections come in a tense atmosphere, as Kenya suffers from economic problems that have led to high prices, in addition to the fear of citizens and observers of the outbreak of violence after the announcement of the election results, as happened in two of the last three elections in the country due to accusations of fraud. 1,200 people died after the 2007 elections and more than 100 after the 2017 elections.
The elections took place rather quietly, other than they were postponed in the northern town of Eldas until today, Wednesday, after some clashes between supporters of the two candidates.
It is worth noting that the number of eligible voters in the elections reached 22.1 million, and 4 candidates are competing for the presidential seat, most notably the Kenya Kwanzaa Alliance (Kenya First) headed by the current Vice President William Ruto, and the Azimio La Umoja Alliance (Decision for Unity) led by Former Prime Minister and historical opponent Raila Odinga, who has the support of outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Kenya Electoral Commission, which expected about 60% of voters to participate in the electoral process, confirmed that it had put in place the necessary safeguards to prevent any fraud or manipulation and to avoid any potential technical problems.
The Governmental Authority for East African Countries (IGAD) also announced that it will monitor the elections in Kenya by deploying 24 observers in different electoral districts across 11 districts in the country.
Preliminary indicators of the results of the presidential elections showed that the competition between the main candidates was intensifying, in light of expectations of resorting to a second round to decide the seat of the president and vice president, where the winner is required to obtain 50 + 1 of the valid votes of the electorate, and the election results may witness a historic event with the success of the first woman in The country’s history of winning the vice-presidential seat if the Azimio La Umoja (Decision for Unity) coalition, led by former Prime Minister and historical opponent Raila Odinga, wins, is unusual, as most female candidates in all elections there are subjected to physical attacks.
The Egyptian coalition appeals to the competing parties to demonstrate democracy and accept the results of the elections in Kenya, and not to push the country into strikes that would affect the situation in it.
