Kenyatta Is Declared the Victor in Kenya, but Opponent Plans to Appeal

Kenya’s election commission on Saturday declared Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president and one of the prime suspects in a case involving crimes against humanity, to be the winner of the country’s presidential race amid growing allegations of vote fraud and a refusal by the other leading contender to concede.

 Mr. Kenyatta, who has been accused by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague of bankrolling death squads during Kenya’s last election crisis, cleared the 50 percent threshold and avoided a runoff by the thinnest of margins, about 8,000 votes out of 12 million, or .07 percent.

Mr. Kenyatta’s trial is set for July, which means that Kenya, one of the United States’ closest allies in Africa, could soon have a president commuting back and forth from The Hague, simultaneously trying to run a country and keep himself out of jail.

Refusing to accept defeat, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the election process experienced multiple failures as he announced plans to petition the Supreme Court. Odinga asked for calm and for Kenyans to love one another, a call that may help prevent a repeat of the 2007-08 violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed and that brought Kenya to the edge of civil war.

Kenyatta's slim margin of victory increases the focus on a multitude of electoral failures that occurred during the six-day voting and counting process. Kenyatta surpassed the 50-per cent level needed to avoid a runoff by just over 8,000 votes out of 12.3 million cast.

- NyTimes/ CBA