John Kerry congratulates Kenya on elections without naming Kenyatta
Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta casts his vote at the Mutomo primary school in Kiambu on March 4, 2013.
John Kerry commended Kenya on their elections Saturday, without specifically mentioning president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta.
The US Secretary of State managed to congratulate the country on its peaceful elections without tipping his hat to Kenyatta, who won over half the country's vote.
"We stand with you at this historic moment and will continue to be a strong friend and ally of the Kenyan people,"Kerry said in a statement which congratulated "all those elected to office," Reuters reported.
The United States has made it clear that they do not support Kenyatta, who faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court for his role in post-2007 election violence, the Africa Review reported.
Obama's administration has also said Kenya would face unspecified "consequences" if it elected a certain leader, widely understood to be Kenyatta, according to the Associated Press.
Kenyatta's opponent Raila Odinga has vowed to contest what he called the "massive tampering" of the votes, but vowed to do so in the courts and not the streets of Nairobi, Agence France-Presse reported.
"By Saturday the tension had all but dissipated, replaced be resignation and despondency among Raila’s supporters, and joyful celebrations among Kenyatta’s," GlobalPost correspondent Tristan McConnell reported. "Yet on both sides of the wide political divide, the desire for peace and for life to get back to normal was strong."
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