Kenyans Want the Election to be Over—These Are Their Reactions

Kenyan Twitter reacts to the unrest following Uhuru's win in round 1 of the presidential election.

Jacqueline Traoré
August 09, 2017

KENYA—Round 1 of the Kenyan Elections took place yesterday and according to provisional results, Uhuru Kenyatta, the current president, stands for re-election after winning 54.3 percent of votes.

Kenya follows a modified version of the two-round system. Because Kenyatta won more than 50 percent of votes it's unlikely that there will be a round 2, unless he fails to fulfill the second condition— winning  25 percent of votes in at least 24 counties.

After hearing of Kenyatta's victory, his main challenger and long-time rival Raila Odinga called the results a "complete fraud," claiming the new electronic system used to count the votes had been hacked.  He later posted on his Twitter account a series of "proof" corroborating his story.

The two candidates have a  deep inherited rivalry. Kenyatta's father, a Kikuyu, was the first President of Kenya and Odinga, a Luo, was his vice-president. When the two of them bitterly parted ways  in 1966, political rivalries between the two ethnic groups ensued.

This is also not the first time Odinga has contested an election's results. In both 2007 and 2013, he ran against Uhuru and following his loss declared the elections rigged. The elections took a dramatic turn in 2007, when 1200 people where killed in post-ballot violence.

While this time most parts of Kenya remained calm, angry protesters from Mathara and Kisumu took to the streets to express their discontent. According to Aljazeera, at least three people were shot dead as police and protesters clashed.

Here is what Kenyan Twitter had to say about the recent events:

Sign Up To Our Newsletter

© Copyright OkayAfrica 2023