In 2007, a few days after declaring President Mwai Kibaki the winner of the presidential election, the electoral body chairman Samuel Kivuitu walked back his statement insisting that he was not sure whether the head of state had actually won the plebiscite.
“I am not sure whether Kibaki won the election. I was under fierce pressure from politicians and the European Union ambassadors to announce the results,” a frightened Kivuitu said.
The remark angered supporters of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) who believed Raila Odinga’s victory had been stolen at the eleventh hour in a dirty scheme that allegedly involved the electoral commissioners and powerful government officials in the Kibaki administration.
Kivuitu’s statement added fire to the already high political tension that had engulfed the country hours after the announcement of the results, leading to full-blown ethnic violence
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