Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he believes the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election, four years after the Supreme Court upheld President William Ruto’s victory.
Uhuru made the remarks on Tuesday during a Jubilee Party meeting in Nairobi, where he defended the decision by the then-ruling party to support Mr Odinga’s presidential bid.
“Na kura akapata, na mimi mpaka wa leo najua ya kwamba yeye ndiye alishinda hiyo kura,” Uhuru said, adding that he and other leaders knew what happened during the election.
The former president also questioned how the Azimio la Umoja coalition could have performed strongly in parliamentary and gubernatorial contests but failed to win the presidency.
“Tunajua vile mambo ilienda, na hatutaki iende hivyo tena,” he said.
The official results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), however, show that Mr Ruto won the August 9, 2022 presidential election.
According to IEBC records, Mr Ruto received 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49 per cent, while Mr Odinga received 6,942,930 votes, representing 48.85 per cent. The margin between the two candidates was 233,211 votes.
Mr Odinga challenged the presidential results at the Supreme Court, alongside other petitioners, seeking to overturn Mr Ruto’s election.
The Supreme Court on September 5, 2022, unanimously dismissed the petitions and upheld Mr Ruto’s election as president. The court found that the petitioners had not established grounds for overturning the result declared by the IEBC.
The IEBC has subsequently cited the Supreme Court decision in its own account of the 2022 election, noting that the court upheld the results declared by the presidential returning officer.
Uhuru’s remarks therefore revive the political dispute surrounding the 2022 election despite the official IEBC tally and the Supreme Court determination.
The comments come as Uhuru returns to the centre of political activity ahead of the 2027 General Election. On Tuesday, the former president handed over the leadership of Jubilee Party to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
The remarks have already drawn a response from President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance, with party Secretary-General Hassan Omar rejecting Uhuru’s account and maintaining that Ruto won the 2022 election.
