Kenya: Rerun of presidential election to go ahead

By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI (AA) - Thursday's rerun of the Kenyan presidential election will go ahead as planned, said the country's electoral commission on Wednesday.

Polls in Kenya will open at 6 a.m. (0300GMT) on Thursday and close at 5 p.m. [1400GMT] as planned, Kenya's electoral body chairman Wafula Chebukati said at a news conference in Nairobi on Wednesday.

Chebuakti who had last week said that he could not guarantee free, fair and credible elections in Thursday's polls because of a divided commission due to a feud with key secretariat staff, called on many Kenyans to come out and vote.

“Based on assurances we have received from relevant authorities and security agencies, elections will go on as scheduled tomorrow,” Chebukati said. “I have received assurances from the police that human rights will be respected and police brutality will stop.”

The leader of opposition in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s main challenger, Raila Odinga has withdrawn from the race, calling for protests on Thursday.

The political crisis in Kenya has deepened with two courts on Wednesday failing to rule on petitions calling for the disputed election to be postponed.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court in Kenya announced that it had failed to hear a petition calling for a delay in Thursday's presidential election rerun due to a lack of quorum.

- Fear of being attacked

Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga said the case could not be heard as five judges out of seven were not able to make it to court.

Later on Wednesday, High Court judge Chacha Mwita dismissed a case also seeking to postpone the election.

”The court has no jurisdiction on the matter to dismiss the elections and leaves the matter to the Supreme Court, therefore the elections will go on,” said Mwita.

Across the country, in opposition strongholds, staff from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) stayed away from work in fear of being attacked.

A presiding officer of the polling staff in the eastern Siaya county, who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, said: “My staff are afraid that they may be attacked or killed. We have witnessed so many attacks despite the heavy police and military presence, I doubt we will have an election here, the situation is the same all over Kisumu county [an opposition stronghold].”

Citing irregularities, the Supreme Court had annulled the Aug. 8 election, initially won by incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kenyatta are set to release statements later on Wednesday.