Kalonzo urges Cord supporters to be calm

By Caleb Mutua

The coalition for Reforms and Democracy has urged its supporters and Kenyans in general to remain calm as the electoral body continue to release the rest of the results.

Vice president Kalonzo Musyoko said that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had so far released only one third of the total votes.

“We note with worry that there are those amongst our competitors who have not resisted the temptation to engage in premature celebrations that are neither based on data or fact,” he said. “The facts of the situation are that only approximately one third of all provisional results have been announced. There are about two thirds of all polling stations that are yet to report their results.”

He urged all Kenyans to patiently wait for the remaining two thirds of the polling stations before making any conclusions about the results.

Mr Kalonzo, who is Raila Odinga’s running mate, thanked Cord supporters for braving the long queues witnessed yesterday in the majority of the polling stations.

“We wish to thank the millions of our supporters who turned up to cast their votes for reform, democracy and prosperity,” he added.

The vice president expressed concerns over the slow pace with which provisional results have been trickling in since yesterday.

“We have noted that the process of releasing results by IEBC system is slow even in areas as close as Nairobi City and we have forwarded our concerns in this regard to them and we hope they will deal with them expeditiously and transparently,” he added.

The electoral commission boss Mr Issack Hassan on Tuesday said that the commission had up to seven days within which to announce results.

Uhuru Kenyatta of Jubilee alliance has been leading the presidential race since yesterday. He is currently ahead with 53 per cent while Raila Odinga is second with 42 per cent.

Kenyans went to the polls yesterday and voted peacefully despite the long queues and technical glitches experienced with the electronic voter identification devices in many polling stations.

First published in March 2013.