Nairobi — The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has challenged contenders in the presidential race to concede defeat if they lose quickly.
The Commission made the plea amid the unprecedented number of concessions made by leaders who have lost various elective positions.
"For the first time, we are seeing contestants conceding defeat for the first time in the history of elections in this country. This indicates that each of them is satisfied with the process, and we hope that the trend will continue up to the presidential results," Commissioner Abdi Guliye said.
Guliye lauded the losers for taking the initiative to accept the outcome of the Tuesday election.
Some of the notable leaders include: Jubilee Party's National Director of Elections Kanini Kega who conceded defeat in Kieni parliamentary race, Jubilee's Charles Kibiru who lost the Kirinyaga Governor race, NARC Kenya's Kabando Wa Kabandoi, who accepted defeat in Nyeri.
Others are Jubilee's Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, who conceded defeat to UDA's George Gachagua after failing to recapture Ndaragwa MP seat Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya, who was unsuccessful in his re-election bid, also conceded defeat.
Taveta MP Naomi Shaban also conceded defeat after losing her bid to extend her 20-year parliamentary career on a Jubilee ticket and
Lang'atA MP Nixon Korir also conceded defeat and congratulated his rival, comedian-turned-politician Felix Odiwour' Jalang'o'.
Commissioner Guliye also noted that the Commission would be ready to handle any election-related petitions that may arise from the election.
"As a Commission, we will prepare ourselves to defend our position in whatever court that we will be taken and so we cannot give that assurance but we are trying to be as open and transparent so that everybody can have confidence in the process," he said.
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He, however, exuded confidence that the cases will not be many as compared to previous elections owing to the nature of transparency and openness the Commission has adopted.
"Reasons we have gone to great lengths to make the entire process to try and make the entire process as open as possible is precisely to ensure that everybody is satisfied so that they is no need for one to go to court," he said.
The Commission on Thursday began verifying the results, which were collated across all the 46, 229 polling stations across the country.
Some Returning Officers had made their way into the Commission's main national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya to present their respective forms 34B.
The electoral body Chairman Wafula Chebukati who issued a status update, urged Kenyans to remain patient ahead of the declaration of the presidential results.
The Commission has until August 16, 2022 to declare the results, which are anxiously being waited by Kenyans.
