Kenya 2017 Election System Hacked

(photo: https://pixabay.com/en/binary-black-cyber-data-digits-2170633/)
By Faith MagbanuaAugust 10th, 2017

 

The provisional results for the 2017 Kenyan election was released on Tuesday and it reported a strong lead for President Uhuru Kenyatta. However, it seems the opposition does not fully agree with the results with its candidate, Raila Odinga, claiming that the results were rigged in favor of the ruling party.

Wafula Chebukati, Kenya's election chief said he had confidence in the system but the claims given by Odinga would be investigated.

Meanwhile, a lot of citizens still has fears for a possible repeat of the election violence that occurred after a disputed election 10 years ago, and there have been calls for calm in the public regarding the results of the elections. More than 1,100 Kenyans died and 600,000 were displaced following the 2007 vote.

However, on Wednesday, the Kenyan police fired shots dispersing the supporters of Odinga who are protesting in Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, Reuters reports.

On the other hand, protests have also been taking place in Nairobi in light of the elections.

A raw polling data published on the website of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says that with 95.3% of results in, Kenyatta is leading with about 54.3% to Odinga's 44.8% share of the vote.

These results mean that Kenyatta appears to be leading for a first-round victory, but they are not the official results, Chebukati said, as Form 34As - filled in by presiding officers to tally votes at polling stations - have not yet been checked against the results the IEBC has already announced.

Odinga; however, has disputed these provisional results, saying in a tweet that his party's own assessment puts him ahead of his co-presidential candidate, Kenyatta.

Meanwhile, the election observers say that they are unable to support or dismiss Odinga's claims, as they are yet to complete their parallel vote tally. Still, the EU observer mission has yet to comment towards the allegations given by Odinga.

In order to avoid a run-off, a candidate needs 50% plus one of the votes cast and at least a 25% share of the vote in 24 of Kenya's 47 counties. There were eight candidates in all, but apart from Kenyatta and Odinga, none polled more than 0.3% of the vote.

Kenyatta has won a total number of 50.7% of the vote at the last election in 2013, narrowly avoiding a run-off.

 

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