Kenya’s Odinga Shuns William Ruto’s Presidential Inauguration Today

Kenya’s main opposition and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has written to excuse himself from William Ruto’s Presidential  inauguration today.

Responding to Ruto’s Monday invitation and telephone call to attend the ceremony on Tuesday, Raila Odinga Presidential Secretariat wrote to decline the invitation, saying that the former president would not be participating in the ceremony because he was out of the country and had ”other serious concerns.”

”First I believe that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC, the body in charge of our elections, did not conduct a free and fair election,” Odinga said.

Recall that the ranks of the leadership of the electoral body was broken following the declaration of  Ruto as winner of the keenly contested election. Vice chairman of the body had contested the results declared by the chairman of the commission citing  irregularities.

Opposition leader,  Odinga who came a close second  to Ruto in the just-concluded election  had also contested the outcomes in court insisting that the process and election collation were fraught with irregularities. Kenya’s Supreme Court had to recount votes in at least nine counties finding just some negligible disparities but confirming Ruto’s victories in many of the areas recounted.

The apex court’s final judgement on the matter last week also confirmed Ruto as President-elect, forcing  Odinga  to again protest the  Supreme Court ruling but having grossly limited options as President-elect Ruto prepares to move in Kenya’s substantive president Tuesday September 13, 2022. He is however not going to attend Ruto’s presidential inauguration today.

What ex-president Odinga is saying:

Odinga, in his Monday evening letter  titled ”Re: Invitation to H.E William Ruto’s Inauguration,” gave two major reasons why he was declining invitation to President Ruto’s presidential inauguration:

”This evening, I received a letter and a telephone call from H.E Dr William Ruto inviting me to his inauguration set for tomorrow, September 13, 2022. I regret however that I will not be available to the inauguration because I am out of the country and I also have other serious concerns.

”First, I believe that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the body in charge of our elections, did not conduct a free and fair election.

”Secondly, I believe that the ruling of the Supreme Court was not based on the facts and the law, even though we accepted it.

”For these reasons, the outcome of the election remains indeterminate. One I return to the country, I will jointly with Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party leaders, announce our next steps  as we seek to deepen the strength of our democracy.

”In the meantime, I applaud and thank our supporters and Kenyans who came out in large numbers to vote for us on August 9th, 2022.”