By Peter Ochieng

President William Ruto did not waste any time in offering a response to Azimio La Umoja One Kenya leader, Raila Odinga’s demand that he resigns from office.

Addressing hundreds of his supports at the historical Kamkunji grounds, Nairobi, on his return from South Africa, Odinga said he does not recognize Ruto as the Head of State, claiming he was illegitimately elected in August 2022.

“We in Azimio reject the 2022 election results totally. We cannot and will not recognize the Kenya Kwanza regime and consider the Kenya Kwanza government illegitimate. We don’t recognize Mr. William Ruto as the President of Kenya,” Odinga said.

In a rejoinder while speaking in Gatundu South during the burial of Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria’s elder sister, the President defended his win, urging Odinga and his brigade to forget about a handshake or a coalition government.

“Mimi nataka niwaambie mapema mchana my friends, sahau mambo ya handshake. Na msituambie kwamba hamtaki mambo ya handshake, hii ukora yenu ya kila siku tunawajua (I want to tell you during the day my friends, forget about the handshake, and don’t tell us that you don’t need the handshake because we know you every day with your blackmail).”

Odinga said that he won the presidential contest with over 2 million votes, owing to data shared by an Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) whistleblower.

“According to IEBC whistleblower data, we won handily with over 2 million votes. The people of the mountain voted for us as they have never done before. I want to thank the inhabitants of the mountain for giving me an insurmountable margin in the election,” he said.

But the Head of State defended his win, stating that IEBC under former chairman Wafula Chebukati conducted free and fair polls.

“Chebukati and IEBC opened the server a long time ago. Forms 34A from all the polling stations are on the portal, forms 34B are on the portal, form 34C is on the portal.”

Last week, Azimio leaders claimed that Odinga garnered 8.1 million votes in the presidential race, with Ruto managing less than 6 million votes.

However, an announcement made by former IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati on 15th August 2022 shows that Ruto won the race to the House on the Hill with 7.1 million votes, against Raila’s 6.9 million.