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Kenyatta wins in Kenya

March 9, 2013

Kenya's election commission has declared Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of the nation's presidential election. The candidate won just over 50 percent of the vote.

https://p.dw.com/p/17u4N
Posters of presidential candidates Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, center, are seen in Nairobi on March 8, 2013. (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
Image: REUTERS

Kenyatta won by the slimmest of margins, with 50.03 percent of votes cast, according to the election commission on Saturday.

If the provisional figures stand, it would mean that Kenyatta would avoid a run-off vote against Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The son of Kenya's founding president Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta has proven to be a controversial figure who may negatively impact Kenya's relations with the West.

Controversial figure

The candidate faces charges at the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 postelection violence.

Kenyatta and his running mate, William Ruto, have been charged with unleashing death squads after the 2007 vote. Both men have denied the charges.

This week's election was the country's first since the 2007 vote, which sparked two months of violence that lead to the deaths of more than 1,000 people.

Kenyatta, who comes from the Kikuyu tribe, Kenya's biggest ethnic community, secured 6,173,433 votes out of a total of 12,338,667 ballots cast, figures show.

If confirmed, this will mean he secured just over 50 percent to claim the first-round win.

The results need to first be officially confirmed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

tm/pfd (AP, Reuters)