Deputy President William Ruto now claims opposition hired militia men to sabotage repeat Presidential election.
In an exclusive interview with CNN in Nairobi on Saturday evening, the DP said many Kenyans felt threatened by their competitors [NASA] and did not come out to vote.
“We are reliably aware that our competitors blocked voting in some areas through violent protests orchestrated by hired militia but that does not mean that an election did not happen. The rest of the country voted peacefully,” said the DP.
He said Raila Odinga mobilized and organized militia in his backyard to harass election officials with an aim to make it look like there was no voting at all in his backyard.
But there are those who came out to vote even with the threats but a larger percentage, 9%, were denied the right to vote due to harassment by the militia.
Stating it is highly unjustified to deny Kenyans right to vote, the DP noted: “If it is true that people in his region did not vote let them remove all the militia and allow IEBC to conduct an election, they will be surprised at the overwhelming turn out.”
Ruto dismissed Raila’s assertion that only 3.5 million Kenyans turned out to vote.
The DP maintained more than 7.5 million Kenyans turned up to vote.
“It is incorrect for Odinga to say only 3.5 million turned out. More than 7.5 million turned out. Odinga wants to peddle a narrative that suits his political propaganda.”
In response to low voter turnout, he said, “Repeat elections have a characteristic of low voter turnout worldwide. Where a candidate boycotts an election, intimidates by sponsoring violence and blackmail on citizens is worse. The 40 per cent turnout in our case is a record.”
“We have over 25 percent in 44 counties and soon after the final tally the chairman will make a declaration and Uhuru will be sworn in as per our constitution,” he added.