Martha Karua Says She Does Not Recognize Ruto as President

Nark-Kenya party leader Martha Karua has said she does not recognize William Ruto as the duly elected President of the Republic of Kenya.

Karua, who spoke during an interview with BBC News on Thursday, stated that while the law recognizes Ruto as the president, she does not.

 “The law recognizes him (Ruto). But not me,” Karua said.

Karua contested the August 9th election as the running mate of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga, who emerged second behind President Ruto.

Ruto was declared the winner of the presidential election after garnering 7,176,141, representing 50.49 percent of the total votes, while Odinga secured 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).

Odinga and Karua challenged the outcome of the presidential election at the Supreme Court, but a seven-judge bench of the apex court unanimously ruled that Ruto was validly elected as Kenya’s fifth president, having attained the 50 percent plus one vote requirement. 

The judges said that the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there was electoral malfeasance to warrant annulment.

“Any irregularities were not of such magnitude as to affect the final results of the presidential election,” the court ruled.

The court found that the technology used by the Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) met the standards of “integrity, verifiability, security and transparency”.

The judges said they did not find any evidence of hacking and that no evidence was produced to show that IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and other IEBC officials were involved. 

Reacting to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the presidential election petition, Karua said she respects the verdict although she does not agree with its findings.

“The court has spoken. I respect but disagree with the findings,” she said in September.