Raila Odinga says IEBC computer system hacked

Hackers broke into the database of Kenya's electoral commission and manipulated the results of the election, Nasa Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga has alleged.

Vote counting is ongoing after Tuesday's election where voters were asked to either re-elect President Uhuru Kenyatta or replace him with longtime opposition leader Mr Odinga.

With ballots from 92 per cent of polling stations counted, electoral commission (IEBC) results showed Mr Kenyatta leading, with 54.4 per cent of the nearly 13 million ballots tallied, against Mr Odinga's 44.7 per cent, a difference of 1.3 million votes.

FRAUD

Odinga rejected those results, claiming at a morning press conference that they were the result of a intrusion by hackers into the IEBC's electronic voting system, set up to guard against vote fraud.

"These results are fake, it is a sham. They cannot be credible," Odinga told reporters.

He said the hacking affected all the results, both the presidential and the general election.

Mr Odinga said a hacker, using the identity of the late IEBC ICT Manager Chris Msando, took control of the IEBC system at 12.37am and began manipulating results to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s advantage.

“What the IEBC has posted is a complete fraud…to give Uhuru Kenyatta votes that were not cast…We have uncovered the fraud. Uhuru must go home and IEBC must be fully accountable,” Mr Odinga told a news conference at the Nasa campaign headquarters in Westlands.

He said records sent from constituencies were not be reflected at national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya.

“They gained full entry and created errors which allowed them to turn into a formula into a formula. Within 12 hours this attack on our democracy affected the election in all our counties,” Mr Odinga said.

“Uhuru had said he didn’t need votes to win…we don’t need him as our leader… I am saying this on behalf of those who participated in the election,” Mr Odinga said.

But he told his supporters to remain calm. “We are basically telling our people not to accept these results. But stay calm.”

PROTECT SOURCE

“We want our people to remain calm. It might come a time when we shall ask you to come out, but we must be strategic,” Mr Odinga’s running mate Kalonzo Musyoka said.

But the Nasa candidate could not reveal the source of the hacking claims, saying he wanted to protect his source.

He said it was a matter that had claimed the life of Mr Msando.

Mr Msando, who was in charge of the results relaying system at the IEBC was last week found tortured and killed.

Mr Odinga wondered why IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati went ahead to display the results when he had said he would not release results until they received forms 34A.