With three days to the poll rerun, President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday ruled out talks with opposition leader Raila Odinga until after the election on Thursday, if at all.
He also said there is no question whatsoever of his legitimacy as President, no question of a boardroom government.
Jubilee has no poll preconditions, as long as the election is held on Thursday, the President said.
Despite continuing clamour for some kind of dialogue, Raila yesterday repeated his no-election call, declaring, "Canaan beckons." Though he has repudiated the polls and announced his withdrawal, his name will appear on the ballot.
The opposition's countrywide demonstrations against the rerun will resume today, he said.
The former Prime Minister has promised to make a major announcement tomorrow on election eve "that will change the political debate" in Kenya.
Yesterday, Uhuru finally met IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati yesterday and said Jubilee has no poll preconditions as long as the rerun goes on as scheduled.
Raila meanwhile met foreign envoys in Nairobi before flying to Kisii and Nyamira where he told supporters to boycott the repeat election and demonstrate against it.
Trade unions and Western envoys demanded dialogue, respect for the Constitution, an end to attacks on IEBC staff in the field and an end to politicians' interference with the IEBC.
"When this election is held, Kenyans may choose to vote or not; to support whichever candidate they choose, or none; to express their views peacefully to whomever will listen, in whatever forum they think best. Now and after the election, we urge Kenyans to renew and redouble their national dialogue about how to unite the country, end ethnic and tribal conflict, and allow everyone to share in the country’s bounty," the envoys said in a joint statement.
For the first time, Uhuru publicly confronted the question of his own legitimacy after Raila withdrew from the election on October 10. Raila said the system had been rigged and would be again to ensure a "computer-generated President".
In a series of interviews, Kenyatta said Raila's withdrawalwill not call into question the legitimacy of his presidency.
Speaking to vernacular
radio stations, the head of state dismissed the 'legitimacy narrative' as speculation by the opposition.
“If we get 70+1 votes, will anybody question the legitimacy of my victory? Don't be misled by speculation. This time round, we will get 70+1 votes, whether he [Raila] will be on the ballot or not,” Uhuru said.
"There will be no dialogue with Raila until after elections. The government will not be formed in the boardroom. The people of Kenya will elect the government they choose," Uhuru said.
Raila said, “We shall not relent in our struggle for a free, fair and credible election. We resume our our picketing at IEBC offices countrywide on Tuesday and Wednesday. Canaan beckons and there is no turning back,” he said.
Yesterday, Uhuru told Chebukati the polls must be held within 60 days as ordered by the Supreme Court on September 1.
“We only insist the election be held on October 26 ...," Kenyatta said.
On Wednesday last week, moments after the resignation of IEBC Commissioner Roselyne Akombe, Chebukati said that Raila has over six million supporters who would feel disenfranchised by his withdrawal.
“While it is his right, we must think beyond him and think of the six million Kenyans who will feel disenfranchised by this action. Do we just go on as if his withdrawal means nothing?” Chebukati asked.
The IEBC National Returning Officer said the legitimacy of many presidents has been questioned after withdrawal of their main challengers, leading to economic, political and social crisis.
He said Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe got a resounding victory after the withdrawal of Morgan Tsvangirai from the 2008 presidential run-off but issues of legitimacy dog him to date.
“I will not sit at the helm of the Commission as we plunge the country into a possibly worse situation than we had in 2007-08. It is difficult to guarantee a free, fair and credible election,” Chebukati said.
But Uhuru maintained he will not talk with Raila until after the election.
He said Raila wants to utilise the national clamour for dialogue “to grasp for himself a coalition government”.
“I have refused and said I am not interested to dialogue with him. I am interested with the decision of Kenyans. If he wants to lead this country, he must accept that leadership is granted by the people through voting,” Uhuru said.
“We will talk later after voting. We will never talk on how to deny the people their democratic right to vote for their leader. Let the people decide.”
Last week, Raila said he is ready for dialogue with Uhuru, but only on free and fair polls and not formation of a Grand Coalition government, as Jubilee alleges he wants.
The President also rubbished Raila's claims the state is deploying the military to his strongholds ahead of the rerun.
He called Raila's claims “mere propaganda” to create fear.
Uhuru says his administration has been supporting the military to protect borders and partner with other neighbouring nations to stabilise the region.
He said Raila made the same allegations about KDF deployment before August 8 but failed to substantiate them
Uhuru said the police and other internal agencies, not the KDF, are deployed to ensure election security.
Before August 8, NASA had claimed the government was planning to deploy soldiers to specific areas without Parliament's approval, an action it said would amount to an illegality if not prevented.
NASA said this could have intimidated voters into not exercising their constitutional right or voting.
This, NASA believed, could have intimidated voters into not exercising their constitutional right of voting.
Raila said the government was planning to use the military to rig the General Election.