Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta snubbed a crisis meeting called by the top election official for Thursday, saying he would instead spend the time campaigning for next week’s presidential vote re-run.
The first presidential vote in August, which Kenyatta won by 1.4 million votes, was annulled by the Supreme Court over procedural irregularities.
The re-run is set for Oct. 26 but opposition leader Raila Odinga has pulled out, alleging a failure to improve oversight of the election, casting doubt on how the vote will proceed.
Election board chairman Wafula Chebukati, in a stark message to political leaders on Wednesday, said he could not guarantee a credible vote under present conditions, and demanded Kenyatta and Odinga meet him for talks.
The board, known as the IEBC, set the meeting for 1130 GMT in Nairobi but then said it had been postponed to an unspecified date and time. Chebukati later tweeted that he had met Odinga and was “looking forward” to meeting Kenyatta, though it was not clear if the president intended to respond to his call.
Opposition demonstrations, which have led to confrontations between police and protesters, and divisive rhetoric by politicians have stoked uncertainty in Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy and a stable Western ally in a chaotic region.
Speaking at a campaign rally in the western town of Saboti late on Wednesday, Kenyatta said the priority was for Kenyans to go to the polls on the set date.
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