Raila Odinga withdraws from Kenya’s election rerun

Raila Odinga, Kenya’s opposition leader, has withdrawn from the country’s election rerun slated for October 26.

Kenya’s presidential election was in August nullified by the country’s supreme court, owing to reported cases of irregularities.

It was the first time a court had overturned the result of a presidential election in Africa.

Explaining his decision to pull out of the rerun, Odinga said the election commission has not made the changes to avoid the “irregularities and illegalities” prevalent in the cancelled poll.

“After deliberating on our position in respect of the upcoming election, considering the interests of the people of Kenya, the region and the world at large, we believe that all will be best served by the party vacating its presidential candidature in the election scheduled for 26 October 2017,” he said.

Odinga urged Kenyans to flood the streets on Wednesday to clamour for a reform of the country’s electoral process.

While annulling the election in August, Kenya’s supreme court had said it was “neither transparent or verifiable”.

Prior to the annulment, incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta had been declared winner of the election.