Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto is one of the leading presidential candidates alongside ODM leader Raila Odinga ahead of the August 8 General Election.
Ruo and his team have previously said there is a scheme to rig the presidential election in favor of his bitter rival of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party.
The deputy president’s claims appear to raise the possibility of a fourth successive disputed presidential election outcome in the country since 2007.
A few days ago, Interior PS Karanja Kibicho said that data by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) shows that Raila will beat Ruto with a resounding 60 percent lead in the first round of voting.
This has left allies of the former Eldoret North MP wondering if there is a plot to rig Raila- who enjoys the support of outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta- into office.
Speaking on Thursday, June 2, Ruto reiterated the rigging claims by claiming more than 1 million registered voters from his strongholds have mysteriously disappeared from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) register a few days to the General Election.
“We will take a position on this matter. We are writing to IEBC because there was an attempt to remove names from the IEBC register,
“Many of the names are people from our strongholds. There is a clear attempt to try some monkey games. They will not succeed but these attempts are a source of concern to Kenyans,” William Ruto said while addressing ambassadors and Heads of Mission from the United Kingdom.
Ruto further termed as “dangerous” the utterances by Interior PS Karanja Kibicho and ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru that Raila will resoundingly win by a 60 percent margin.
“It is dangerous, especially when public officials are chest-thumping that the deep state will manipulate the elections,” he said.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati has dismissed William Ruto’s claims, saying that no data had been lost from the voter register.
On Wednesday, June 1, Kibicho said as a government official, he has the privileged to access intelligence information and that they don’t speak from emotions like their Kenya kwanza counterparts but from facts.
“If the data I have given you, you think is misleading then tell me what data you have and from where that says otherwise. You cannot criminalize someone for giving you the information you have asked for,” the PS said.
