Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has pulled out of October’s election re-run.
Mr Odinga said his withdrawal would give the electoral commission enough time to introduce reforms that will help deliver a more credible election.
The Supreme Court annulled the result of the original August 8 poll after finding irregularities and declaring it “neither transparent nor verifiable”.
The electoral commission had declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta the winner. It said Mr Kenyatta had won by a margin of 1.4 million votes.
The re-run was due to take place on October 26, but Mr Odinga said today: “We have come to the conclusion that there is no intention on the part of the IEBC [electoral commission] to undertake any changes to its operations and personnel… All indications are that the election scheduled for October 26 will be worse than the previous one.”
As a result, he said, “considering the interests of the people of Kenya, the region and the world at large” it was best that he withdrew from the race.
According to BBC News, Mr. Odinga has called on people to protest on Wednesday, using the slogan “no reform, no elections”. But Mr. Kenyatta said the election will go ahead regardless.
