On Tuesday, August 09, 2022, the entire Kenyan people were invited to vote in the context of the elections of local representatives (governors, senators and deputies), but especially during the presidential election. A confrontation between Raila Odinga and outgoing vice-president William Ruto.
It was in a calm and relatively peaceful atmosphere that the first voters went to the polls. Due to public opinion which is becoming more and more incredulous towards political power and the economic crisis which has been raging in the country for months due to the global health crisis and which has caused the unemployment of nearly 4 million people, these general elections in Kenya recorded the lowest turnout since the early 2000s. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC), around 65% of the 22.1 million voters turned out to vote elect president, deputies and local elected officials. This is a significant drop compared to the previous elections in 2017 which recorded a turnout of 78%. According to Anthony Kemboi, a 24-year-old student who was recently interviewed by AFP, “People haven’t come [to vote] compared to the past because there have been false promises for years.”
Yet from the morning, long lines of ranks were noticeable in front of some places like the Olympic School in the Kibera district of Nairobi, which had been the subject of violent disputes during the 2017 elections. According to a report by correspondent Florence Morice from RFI, voters are confident that this year’s process will be peaceful.
This opinion is shared by outgoing vice-president William Ruto, who was one of the first to vote in the village of Kosachi, located in the Rift Valley where he is from. He said: “Everyone here wants a peaceful process. We even heard a spontaneous prayer for this election to be peaceful. I am very happy that the process that should culminate in choosing Kenya’s next leaders is finally underway. I want to ask all voters to lend themselves to the exercise, like me, to vote peacefully and deliberately. I am confident that the Kenyan people will make a choice that will lead our country into the future”.
As for the veteran of the opposition Raila Odinga who is in his fifth participation as a candidate in the elections, it is in one of the slums of the capital that he voted. A significant number of his supporters were waiting for him, optimistic that this time will be the right one. Before going to vote he said that: “I will go and exercise my democratic right and vote as we always do. We did our best throughout the campaign, across our country, Kenya. The ball is now in the people’s court, and I am confident that the people of Kenya will speak out loud and clear for democratic change. »
In order to prevent any indelicate demonstrations and to maintain order and security throughout this electoral period, the authorities have announced the deployment of 150,000 police officers throughout the territory.
On Wednesday evening, Amnesty International and other Kenyan civil society organizations denounced the increase in the number of false or misleading information disseminated on social media. Several messages from minority candidates and their supporters had “intentionally sought to misinform the electorate and the public about the electoral process and the results of the elections”, they underlined in a joint press release.
Mr. Odinga and Mr. Ruto both said they would recognize the results after they were announced. As a reminder, in 2007-2008, Mr. Odinga’s contestation of the results led to clashes between supporters of the two major opponents which resulted in the death of more than 1,100 people.
It is therefore with pressure at its peak that the electoral commission and its agents are working to count the millions of ballots in the most absolute transparency, in order to once again avoid a post-election crisis such as the country has. habit for several years. The proclamation of the results is scheduled for Tuesday, August 16, 2022.
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