Kenyan Opposition Politician Raila Odinga missed the inauguration of his rival William Ruto the President-elect of Kenya. Odinga said the event fell at a time when he was out of the country.
Mr. Odinga said he believes the electoral commission did not conduct a free and fair election, and the Supreme Court ruling upholding the presidential election results was not based on facts and the law, though he says he respected it.
“For these reasons, the outcome of the election remains indeterminate. Once I return to the country, I will jointly with Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader, announce our next steps as we seek to deepen and strengthen democracy” Odinga said.
Odinga said he will soon announce the next steps to strengthen democracy in the country through Azimio La Umoja. This was in the statement that he released to the media saying that he believes that the independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission did not conduct a free and fair election together with the Supreme Court ruling although he respected it.
It should be noted that Mr. Raila Odinga was in the recent Presidential Election along with Mr. William Ruto the President-elect of Kenya and he lost to Mr. Ruto in the August 9 presidential election.
Raila Amolo Odinga is a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata and he also served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013 assuming to be the Leader of Opposition in Kenya since 2013.
Odinga has stood for the Presidential elections of Kenya five times which he has lost although in each of these elections he has not been satisfied and he has contested the results because of allegations of election fraud.
In 1997, he was third as the candidate of the National Development Party (NDP), 2007 he again ran for presidency under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in which he lost to Mwai Kibaki. He was a runner-up as a candidate for the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) in 2013, National Super Alliance (NASA), and Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party in 2022 for Presidency in the recent Kenyan elections which he also lost to Mr. William Ruto.