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Kenyan opposition leader rejects date of new elections

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, seen reflected in the hood of the presidential vehicle in which he is standing, addresses his supporters on a street in Ongata Rongai, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. (Ben Curtis / Associated Press)
By Tom Odula Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga said Tuesday he does not accept the date for the new presidential elections, demanding reforms to the electoral commission and other “legal and constitutional guarantees.”

The East African power faces an Oct. 17 vote after the Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election, saying the electoral commission had committed irregularities. The court called for a new vote within 60 days.

The electoral commission did not consult with the opposition coalition on how the elections will be carried out and when, Odinga said, and he objected to the new vote being limited to two candidates.

The opposition leader wants some of the commission’s officials to be prosecuted, arguing that without changes the new vote will be no different from the one last month.

“We will not do a mistake twice and expect to get a different result,” he said.

Kenyatta had been named the winner of last month’s election with 54 percent of the vote, nearly 1.4 million votes ahead of Odinga.

Odinga then petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming that election results were manipulated in Kenyatta’s favor. He said Tuesday he continues to seek access to the electoral commission’s computer servers as ordered by the court.

The opposition leader has called for the removal of the electoral commission’s six top officials.

Also Tuesday, Kenyatta accused Odinga of “spewing from day one ethnic rhetoric” and having no vision for the country, whose politics and elections have been dogged by ethnic-based allegiances and violence.

The president has said he disagrees with the court’s ruling nullifying the election but respects it, but he also has called its judges “crooks” and vowed to “fix” the judiciary.